Former HSBC banker cleared in €1.6bn tax fraud case

A former executive from HSBC’s private Swiss bank has been cleared three years after French authorities charged him with helping clients hide assets worth at least €1.6bn (£1.45bn).

Judah Elmaleh, the former head of the bank’s Mediterranean-Israel department, had been charged back in 2016 with encouraging French residents to hide their money in Switzerland and avoid paying taxes, but investigative judges decided that there was no clear evidence of his involvement in the scheme.

Thierry Marambert, one of Elmaleh’s lawyers, said the dismissal of charges was an acknowledgement of his client’s good faith and innocence, while a non-public decision from back in January noted that the former executive’s testimony had proved useful in the wider investigation into HSBC.

The investigation has seen HSBC pay out €300m to resolve allegations, while Elmaleh’s former boss, the Swiss bank’s chief executive, pleaded guilty to similar charges and being handed a fine of €0.5m.

France has recently staged a crackdown on money laundering and tax evasion operated through Switzerland, with UBS being slapped with a record €4.5bn fine back in February and former government minister Jérôme Cahuzac jailed for two years.