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LIECHTENSTEIN

Pirate Bay backer caught in Liechtenstein tax probe

Carl Lundström, one of four men awaiting trial for involvement with file sharing site The Pirate Bay, is among a dozen Swedes at the heart of a tax authorities investigation into funds stashed in a bank trust in Lilliput tax haven Liechtenstein.

Pirate Bay backer caught in Liechtenstein tax probe

The Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) investigation into Swedes with fortunes hidden in a bank in Liechtenstein began in the spring and has so far uncovered hidden sums running into hundreds of millions of kronor and involving up to 40 people, reports Dagens Industri.

Lundström is the most well-known name on the list and is also due to stand trial for copyright infringement in the new year for his alleged financial support of file sharing site The Pirate Bay.

Lundström now stands accused of having hidden some 20.8 million kronor ($2.66 million) as a beneficiary of a trust in the tax haven.

The 12 beneficiaries of the Tilburg trust held in the Liechtenstein Global Trust Bank are accused of having hidden a total of 156 million kronor. The 12 are now liable to pay tax and surcharges totalling some 19.3 million kronor.

The investigation into the Liechtenstein trust began after the German secret services bought bank account details from a former employee at the bank. The German authorities then passed on the information to European colleagues in February.

The Swedish tax authorities have narrowed their investigation down to around 40 people and a further 30 can expect to receive a tax shock from the authorities when the investigation into the bank’s affairs is complete.

The newspaper writes that the trust was presumably founded with the purpose of avoiding Swedish gift and wealth taxes which have since been removed.

“Now that these taxes have been removed the incentive for doing this has declined considerably,” said Göran Haglund who led the tax authority investigation.

The economic crimes unit (Ekobrottsmyndigheten) is conducting a parallel investigation into the affairs of many of those named.

ARMY

Swiss history: How the army attacked Liechtenstein three times — by mistake 

Switzerland has been neutral for the past 500 years. But that didn’t stop it from “invading” its tiny neighbour three times in the past 35 years. How did this happen?

Swiss history: How the army attacked Liechtenstein three times — by mistake 
Only a footbridge separates Switzerland from Liechtenstein. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini / AFP

Liechtenstein lies very – and, it would seem, dangerously —close to Switzerland. Where a border should be between the two Alpine nations there is only a footbridge, which may explain why the Swiss military made its way into the minuscule, 23-kilometre-long principality with such ease.

The first incident in the ‘oops…sorry’ category happened in 1985. During a training exercise in the proper use of ground-to-air-missiles, Swiss artillery launched rockets straight into Liechtenstein, igniting a massive forest fire along with a diplomatic snafu.

At first the Swiss claimed that strong winds, which were blowing in the region on that day, were to blame for the misdirected launch. But in the end, the government paid several million francs for damages inflicted on Liechtenstein’s forests.

Seven years later, Switzerland struck again.

Army recruits were on maneuvers when they received orders to set up an observation post in Triesenberg. The soldiers obliged, until local residents started to ask what the Swiss military unit was doing in their town. It was only then that the recruits — and their commanders — realised that Triesenberg is located in Liechtenstein.

Fast-forward to a rainy night in 2007, when 170 troops armed with rifles (but apparently not with a GPS) stumbled into Liechtenstein. They marched on for more than a kilometre until someone exclaimed, “Hey, this isn’t Switzerland”! (“Hey, das isch nöd d Schwiiz”)!

At this point the soldiers turned around and hot-footed it back home.

In all fairness, it is difficult to tell Switzerland apart from Liechtenstein, even in broad daylight. Rural areas in both countries look the same, and people in both nations speak the same Swiss German dialect and use Swiss franc as their currency.

Imagine how much more complicated it is to distinguish one country from another when it’s dark and raining.

According to reports, the incident did not have any political repercussions.

“It’s not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something”, Markus Amman, Liechtenstein’s spokesman for the Interior, remarked at the time.

“These things happen”, he added philosophically, no doubt referring to the two previous episodes when the mighty Swiss army came uninvited.

READ MORE: Swiss history: How the Swiss army refused to decommission its pigeons

 

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