 "Now, Argentina probes HSBC for tax evasion")
Argentina's tax agency said it has uncovered 392 million pesos ($77 million) in fraudulent transactions by HSBC and said it had asked the judicial system to probe the European bank for alleged tax evasion and money laundering.
HSBC, Europe's largest bank, was fined $1.9 billion last year for similar irregularities in Mexico and the United States.
The AFIP tax agency filed the complaint in February over alleged irregularities detected over the last three years, Ricardo Echegaray, head of the agency, said.
Echegaray said HSBC executives had secured fake receipts from local businesses, allowing illicit transactions to be made. "We hope to recover what is due and see the courts apply an appropriate penalty," he said.
According to Echegaray, the bank set up a system to help companies hide bank accounts. "It's clear to us that there was a conspiracy between HSBC and private companies," Echegaray told reporters in Buenos Aires on Monday. "The first thing they have to do is to pay the state what it's owed and dismantle a gang of swindlers."
Federal Judge Javier Lopez Biscayart of the tax crimes court in Buenos Aires has received the agency's file against the bank, Echegaray said.
"The allegations made by regulators in Argentina are of great concern," Lyssette Bravo, an HSBC spokeswoman for Latin America, said in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg News.
MOUNTING TROUBLES
HSBC has been beset by a series of allegations over irregularities across the globe in the recent past. Here's a look at its recent troubles:
HSBC, Europe's largest bank, was fined $1.9 billion last year for similar irregularities in Mexico and the United States.
The AFIP tax agency filed the complaint in February over alleged irregularities detected over the last three years, Ricardo Echegaray, head of the agency, said.
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"On the basis of what's been investigated so far, in six months we've recorded 392 million pesos in fraudulent transactions, generated by evasion and money laundering," Echegaray told a news conference.
Echegaray said HSBC executives had secured fake receipts from local businesses, allowing illicit transactions to be made. "We hope to recover what is due and see the courts apply an appropriate penalty," he said.
According to Echegaray, the bank set up a system to help companies hide bank accounts. "It's clear to us that there was a conspiracy between HSBC and private companies," Echegaray told reporters in Buenos Aires on Monday. "The first thing they have to do is to pay the state what it's owed and dismantle a gang of swindlers."
Federal Judge Javier Lopez Biscayart of the tax crimes court in Buenos Aires has received the agency's file against the bank, Echegaray said.
"The allegations made by regulators in Argentina are of great concern," Lyssette Bravo, an HSBC spokeswoman for Latin America, said in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg News.
MOUNTING TROUBLES
HSBC has been beset by a series of allegations over irregularities across the globe in the recent past. Here's a look at its recent troubles:
- $1.9 billion was the fine US regulators imposed on the bank for helping depositers launder money and evade taxes. The irregularities occurred at its units in the US, Mexico and India
- $2.4 billion The amount the bank set aside to cover the cost of mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI) to mortgage borrowers in the UK
- 392 million pesos ($77 million) is the amount in fraudulent transactions the Argentine tax agency says it has uncovered at the bank Source: News agencies