Liechtenstein bank LGT says stolen data had information on 1,400 clients

February 25, 2008

By Finfacts Team

http://www.finfacts.com/irishfinancenews/article_1012698.shtml



LGT Group, the biggest bank in the Alpine tax haven Liechtenstein and owned by the principality's ruling Liechtenstein family, has said that records stolen and passed to German tax authorities contain data from 1,400 clients as the investigations into tax evasion has widened to the UK.

LGT said that the data, including bank information from 600 Germans, were stolen in 2002 and no later data, was given to authorities. The foundations listed in the stolen records had 4,527 beneficiaries, the bank said.

The UK's Revenue & Customs has confirmed that it is investigating Britons with bank accounts in Liechtenstein. It is also reported in Sueddeutsche Zeitung, that the prosecutor's office in Bochum, Germany, now has records from a second Liechtenstein bank, and investigators have begun 700 individual preliminary proceedings.

Last week, Germany warned that it would ``tighten the thumb screws more'' on Liechtenstein if the two countries can't agree on ending the facilitation of tax evasion. The German government paid .4.2 million to an ex-LGT employee, for a DVD containing records of accounts held on German account holders.


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