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The
Zurich-based unit of Crédit Agricole will pay $99.2 million, the
largest share of the total penalty. The $130 million sum also
includes a $24.2 million from Dreyfus Sons & Co Ltd, and $7.7
million from Baumann & Cie, Banquiers, both in Basel,
Switzerland.
Spokespeople for the three banks could not be immediately
reached for comment outside of Swiss business hours on Tuesday.
The banks settled under a voluntary program the Justice
Department launched in 2013 to allow Swiss banks to resolve
potential criminal charges by disclosing cross-border activities
that helped U.S. account holders conceal assets.
Under the program, banks also must provide detailed information
on the accounts of U.S. taxpayers under investigation. Banks
that were already under criminal investigation were excluded
from the program.
Crédit Agricole managed about 954 U.S.-related accounts worth
more than $1.8 billion since August 2008, the Justice Department
said.
Its conduct included transferring the assets of some
U.S.-related accounts "in ways that concealed the U.S.
connection to those accounts," the Justice Department said. For
example, some U.S. taxpayers were able to fully deplete assets
from accounts that they concealed from the IRS by making
multiple cash withdrawals or reloading pre-paid cash cards.
Dreyfus held 855 U.S.-related accounts since August 2008, worth
about $1.76 billion, while Baumann & Cie held 167 such accounts,
worth about $514.1 million, the Justice Department said.
Practices at both banks included setting up overseas entities,
including in Panama, to hold client funds and conceal the
owners' true identities from U.S. tax authorities.
(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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