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LGT faces lawsuit from German tax evader
Sep 23, 2009, 12:26 GMT
Geneva - A German tax evader is suing the Liechtenstein bank LGT, claiming the institution failed to inform him that his supposedly confidential financial data was in the hands of the authorities.
The Liechtenstein Regional Court confirmed Wednesday a report in Financial Times Deutschland that the civil proceedings would be heard next in Vaduz, the capital of the Alpine principality.
The real estate developer wants 13 million euros (19.21 million dollars) in damages, claiming the bank should have told him the German government had incriminating information against him. He said that had he known of the impending proceedings against him, he would have come clean to the tax authorities and avoided penalties.
The man, aged 66 at the time, was given a suspended prison sentence and a fine of 7.5 million euros for tax evasion.
In 2008, Germany's intelligence services purchased a computer disk from a former LGT employee, which contained confidential data on hundreds of clients of several nationalities, many of whom were evading taxes.
Liechtenstein has strict banking confidentiality rules, though these are in the process of being relaxed owing to international pressure against so-called tax havens.
The suit is being seen as a test case. Should it succeed, other clients could come forward and also claim damages from LGT, which is owned by the princely house of Liechtenstein.
The bank had no immediate response to the report.
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