Israel’s largest bank admits to helping taxpayers use offshore accounts, facilitating FIFA conspiracy
Bank Hapoalim agrees to pay the United States more than $900 million in connection with the two cases.
The Treasury Department today announced that Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest bank, has agreed to pay the United States more than $900 million to resolve two high-profile cases.
First, the department announced that criminal charges had been filed against the bank for its participation in a conspiracy with US taxpayers and others to hide more than $7.6 billion in more than 5,500 secret Swiss and Israeli bank accounts and related income from the IRS.
The bank’s Swiss subsidiary, Bank Hapoalim (Switzerland) Ltd., pleaded guilty.
“Israel’s largest bank, Bank Hapoalim, and its Swiss subsidiary have admitted not only failing to prevent but actively assisting U.S. customers to set up secret accounts, to shelter assets and income, and to evade taxes,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey S. Berman said in a press release. “The combined payment approaching $1 billion reflects the magnitude of the tax evasion by the Bank’s U.S. customers, the size of the fees the Bank collected to provide this illegal service, and the gravity of the illegal conduct.”
