A day after HVB Group, Germany’s second-largest bank, agreed to pay $29.6 million over charges over questionable tax shelters, federal prosecutors now have set their focus on Deutsche Bank, which already is a defendant in a large number of civil suits brought by investors over the same issue.
In its plea deal, HVB admitted “criminal wrongdoing” by engaging in a conspiracy to committing tax evasion by causing the filing of false and fraudulent tax information and helping prepare false tax returns. The plea agreement comes six months after accounting firm KPMG likewise avoided federal indictment by paying $456 million for its role in creating the tax shelters.
“KPMG and HVB have admitted that they, and their co-coconspirators, used false and misleading documentation to cheat the government out of billions of dollars in taxes owed by America’s wealthiest citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia in a statement.
Deutsche Bank would not comment on the matter.