CS Credit Suisse Group

By Brian Blackstone 

ZURICH-- Credit Suisse Group AG said Friday that its offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam were contacted by local authorities regarding client tax issues.

Credit Suisse said in a statement that it "continues to follow a strategy of full client tax compliance."

In a separate statement Friday, the Dutch prosecutor for financial fraud, FIOD, said it is investigating dozens of people over suspected tax fraud and money laundering, and that it had seized jewelry, artwork and a gold bar from homes in the Netherlands as part of the probe.

"They are alleged to have concealed many millions of euros from the authorities by placing them in Swiss bank accounts," the FIOD said, adding that investigations are also ongoing in Australia, Germany, the U.K. and France.

The prosecutor didn't identify any banks.

"The FIOD seized administrative records as well as the contents of bank accounts, immovable properties, and jewelry, an expensive car, expensive paintings and a gold bar" from homes in the Netherlands, it said.

The prosecutor said it has acquired information about thousands of account holders and more operations would be carried out in the weeks ahead.

In 2014, Credit Suisse admitted it conspired to aid tax evasion and agreed to pay $2.6 billion to settle a long-running probe by the U.S. Justice Department.

Meanwhile, the U.K. tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs, said it opened a criminal investigation, jointly with other countries, into "suspected tax evasion and money laundering by a global financial institution and certain of its employees."

The HMRC didn't name the bank.

The HMRC said the probe will spur "further, targeted, activity over the coming weeks" and is focused on "senior employees from within the institution, along with a number of its customers."

Write to Brian Blackstone at brian.blackstone@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 31, 2017 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT)

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