Swiss Firm Will Pay $10m to Avoid US Prosecution

The US Justice Department on Friday said that Switzerland’s Mirelis Holding S.A., a financial and asset management firm, will pay $10.25 million to the United States in order to avoid prosecution for tax-related criminal offenses, Reuters reported. In a statement the Justice Department said the non-prosecution agreement and fine were part of an ongoing US crackdown on citizens using Swiss bank accounts to avoid having to pay taxes. “The agreement reached today demonstrates the department’s resolve toward ending the practice of using Swiss bank accounts to evade one’s taxes,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “The Department will continue to pursue culpable banks and asset management and investment advisory firms that assist US clients in their concealment of assets and the evasion of their US tax obligations.” According to the terms of the non-prosecution agreement signed Friday, Mirelis Holding S.A. (formerly known as Mirelis InvestTrust S.A.) agrees to cooperate in any related criminal or civil proceedings, in return for the department’s agreement not to prosecute this entity for tax-related criminal offenses.