Tax investigators raid 13 German branches of Credit Suisse (Roundup)

Jul 14, 2010, 12:07 GMT

Dusseldorf/Zurich - Tax investigators raided 13 German branches of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse on Wednesday, acting on information from a whistle-blower, a prosecutor in Dusseldorf said.

The 150 tax officials and prosecutors were searching for information on tax evasion by German customers of the bank.

They were acting on a warrant issued by a Dusseldorf district court.

Credit Suisse officials at the bank's headquarters in Zurich confirmed the raids.

'Credit Suisse is working in close cooperation with the relevant local authorities,' the Swiss bank said, adding that as the investigation was ongoing it could not comment further.

Wealthy Germans often park money in secret investment accounts abroad and fail to declare the investment income, although German taxes are calculated on an individual's global income.

Paying whistle-blowers to identify foreign bank accounts and their owners has sparked ethical debate in Germany because the data is obtained by theft. However the information is admissible at a German trial.

North Rhine Westphalia state reportedly paid 2.5 million euros for the disc of data and has since been investigating 1,000 taxpayers, some of whom many have used Credit Suisse bank accounts. The vendor of the disc has never been publicly identified.

The disclosure that the western state had obtained the data prompted thousands of people to turn themselves in and beg for a reduced punishment for tax evasion. Other German states refused to participate in buying the disc, raising ethical objections.