DOJ Sends More Letters In HSBC Offshore Accounts Probe -Attorneys

15th Jul 2010 00:08

By Arden Dale Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES The Justice Department is pressing forward in its investigation into U.S. taxpayers who may have evaded taxes through HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC, HSBA.LN, 0005.HK) accounts in India and Singapore, according to tax attorneys close to the matter. The agency sent a letter dated July 12 to an HSBC client with an account in India, suggesting that it may have sent a new round of letters to other clients. The letter is identical to one sent on June 21 to HSBC clients in Singapore and India, according to Edward M. Robbins Jr., a partner at Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez, a law firm in Beverly Hills, Calif. Robbins said a big question for tax attorneys is "if the taxpayers in these letters are subjects a grand jury investigation, who is the target?" The agency is looking into whether taxpayers may have violated federal criminal laws by failing to report that they had a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a financial account located in a foreign country, according to the DOJ letters, which were obtained by Dow Jones Newswires. The letters don't mention the bank by name, but the attorneys who provided them confirmed that the recipient are HSBC offshore account holders. The DOJ said in the letters that it had reason to believe that the recipients had interests in foreign accounts that weren't reported to the Internal Revenue Service on either a tax return or a special tax form used to report foreign accounts. "You are further advised," the letter concludes, "that you are a subject of a criminal investigation being conducted by the Tax Division." It is signed by Kevin M. Downing, DOJ senior litigation counsel. -By Arden Dale, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2234; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 15, 2010 19:08 ET (23:08 GMT)