ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb 16 (Reuters) – A U.S. client of London-based HSBC (HSBA.L) pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with assets stashed abroad to evade taxes, part of a widening crackdown on foreign banks and their customers.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb 16 (Reuters) – A U.S. client of London-based HSBC (HSBA.L) pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with assets stashed abroad to evade taxes, part of a widening crackdown on foreign banks and their customers.
The plea is the first among the U.S. government’s recent tax prosecutions that involves a major bank other than Swiss banking giant UBS AG. UBS last year admitted that it actively helped U.S. clients to hide money abroad.
HSBC was not named in the court documents, which referred to “one of the largest international banks in the world” … “headquartered in England.” But a person familiar with the matter identified the bank as HSBC.
Andrew Silva, of Sterling, Virginia, a doctor, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government by hiding about $250,000 in an account at a Swiss unit of HSBC.
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