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Credit Suisse Services AG, a unit of the Swiss banking giant, has pleaded guilty to a serious crime: helping rich American taxpayers hide more than $4 billion in offshore accounts to avoid paying US taxes.

The US Department of Justice announced on Monday that the bank has agreed to pay nearly $511 million in penalties as part of a legal settlement.

This guilty plea comes years after the bank had already promised not to do this again. In 2014, Credit Suisse admitted to similar tax crimes and paid $2.6 billion in what was then the largest settlement of its kind.

But according to the DOJ, the bank kept doing the same illegal things, breaking its earlier agreement.

"Credit Suisse AG committed new crimes and breached its May 2014 plea agreement with the United States," the DOJ said in a statement.

The bank helped very wealthy clients avoid paying taxes between 2010 and 2021.

According to CNBC, Credit Suisse was found to have managed at least 475 secret accounts, collectively holding more than $4 billion.

Many of these accounts were hidden in Singapore and never reported to the IRS, even though the bank knew they belonged to US citizens.

Whistleblowers Expose Credit Suisse Tax Evasion Scheme

One example mentioned in the case involved Dan Horsky, a former college professor, who used secret accounts to hide $200 million from the government.

He was caught in 2016, pleaded guilty, and paid a $100 million fine.

Whistleblowers—former Credit Suisse employees—shared evidence with the government over many years.

"At great personal risk," said their attorney Jeffrey Neiman, they handed over names, Social Security numbers, internal documents, and more to expose the wrongdoing. "Today, they feel vindicated," Neiman added.

A Senate investigation had already found in 2023 that Credit Suisse helped Americans hide more than $700 million even after promising not to, ChannelNewsAsia said.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said the case proved "ultra-wealthy and shady Swiss bankers" were still helping clients dodge taxes.

The tax loss to the US government from the scheme is estimated at over $71 million. Credit Suisse also made over $108 million in revenue from these hidden accounts, court documents showed.

As part of the settlement, UBS, which acquired Credit Suisse in 2023, stated that it had no involvement in the original misconduct leading to the penalties.

But UBS must now cooperate with investigations and share any future findings about hidden US accounts.

"This settlement fully vindicates the findings of my investigation," Sen. Wyden said. "The ultra-wealthy shouldn't get a free pass when regular Americans are paying their fair share."

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