Argentine lawmaker, cable firm accused by tax agency in evasion case

[DefJam]

Argentine lawmaker, cable firm accused by tax agency in evasion case

Top cable firm, lawmaker allegedly stashed funds in Swiss accounts

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 30 November, 2014, 5:36am
UPDATED : Sunday, 30 November, 2014, 5:36am

Associated Press in Buenos Aires

HSBC has denied any wrongdoing in the case. Photo: AP

Argentina's top cable-TV operator, a former professional soccer player and a lawmaker are among the holders of some 4,000 secret Swiss bank accounts used to evade taxes, the Argentine tax agency said on Friday.

The agency's revelation came a day after it charged HSBC with helping Argentines evade taxes by stashing about US$3 billion in the secret accounts.

It said the money was handled by intermediaries through a network of offshore accounts and that it got its information from France, where HSBC was placed under formal investigation last week for possibly aiding tax evasion. The banking company has also been charged in Belgium with organised fiscal fraud.

The Telam state news agency published the tax agency's list of the account owners on Friday.

It includes cable-TV operator Cablevision and executives at Grupo Clarin, Argentina's largest media group. It also includes opposition lawmaker Alfonso Prat-Gay, a former member of the Velez Sarsfield soccer club, executives at HSBC Argentina and a local non-governmental group that fights against multiple sclerosis.

HSBC has denied any wrongdoing in the case.

"Cablevision informs that the accounts of the company … mentioned in the named lists have been entirely declared and were informed to the [tax agency] in all its sworn statements," the cable-television company, which is owned by Grupo Clarin, said in a statement.

Lawmaker Prat Gay said he also abided by all Argentine rules.

"I was never the owner or beneficiary of a bank account in Switzerland," Prat Gay said on his official Facebook account. "All my assets have been declared" to the tax agency.

Officials at the tax agency were not available to comment or to provide the list, despite repeated emails and calls.