US investigators on Tuesday lodged a legal complaint against a Credit Suisse banker for fraud while working for UBS, a week after indicting four of his colleagues.

"/> US investigators on Tuesday lodged a legal complaint against a Credit Suisse banker for fraud while working for UBS, a week after indicting four of his colleagues.

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CRIME

Swiss banker in US tax probe

US investigators on Tuesday lodged a legal complaint against a Credit Suisse banker for fraud while working for UBS, a week after indicting four of his colleagues.

Published: 2 March 2011 10:03 CET

US investigators on Tuesday lodged a legal complaint against a Credit Suisse banker for fraud while working for UBS, a week after indicting four of his colleagues, according to court documents.
 

The criminal complaint against Christos Bagios, 45, a Greek citizen residing in Switzerland, says he secretly helped wealthy US clients conceal their earnings in Swiss bank accounts while employed at UBS from 1999 to 2005.
 

Arrested on January 25 upon his entry into the United States, he was implicated by a colleague who was arrested in November and pled guilty to the same acts.
 

The former colleague, Renzo Gadola, admitted to helping Americans conceal their earnings from tax authorities by stashing them in Swiss accounts, according to the complaint filed at a US district court in Florida.
 

Gadola said Bagios “had approximately 100 to 150 undeclared United States clients with total assets under management of approximately $400 million to $500 million,” according to the complaint.
 

Four other Credit Suisse employees were indicted on similar charges on February 24, but the bank itself has not been implicated.
 

UBS, one of Switzerland’s largest banks, had its reputation tarnished by a US fraud investigation launched in 2008 that eventually prosecuted the bank, forcing it to pay a $780 million fine and hand over client names.

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CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.

Published: 26 April 2024 11:17 CEST
Updated: 2 May 2024 15:04 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': Foreigners in Switzerland warned to avoid new scam

A number of foreign nationals, especially in the German-speaking part of the country, have received an official-looking letter, purportedly from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) informing them that the Free Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”

Faced with enquiries from concerned recipients, SEM responded that the letter is fake, advising recipients to ignore it and, above all, not to click on the QR code on the top.

“Fake letters from the SEM have been circulating since the beginning of this week,” the immigration authority said on its website as well as on X (formerly Twitter).  

“The letter has no impact on the recipient’s  residence status,” SEM added.

Fake jobs, real threats

However, this is only the latest scam perpetrated in the name of SEM.

There have been others in the past.

For instance, many foreigners have also received emails from addresses swissimmigration@consultant or eu_immigration@consultant, that pretend to be the Swiss immigration authority.

“In most cases, a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance,” SEM reported.

The first clue that this email doesn’t come from  SEM, which is part of Switzerland’s government, is that it is asking for payment in euros. If the scammers were smarter, they’d demand Swiss francs.

“These e-mails do not come from the SEM and should be considered as an attempt at fraud,” the agency said. 

Extortion attempt

And a few years ago, a number of foreigners received emails coming allegedly from SEM, Swiss border control authorities, or even the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).

They threatened to revoke the victim’s residence permit or even expel them from the country altogether if they didn’t pay a certain sum of money into an anonymous account.

Needless to say, no government authority would ever resort to blackmail or demand payment for such ‘services’.

So a good rule to remember (for foreigners and Swiss alike) is that if threats and pressure are involved, letters / emails / phone calls ( WhatsUp messages are more than likely scams.
 
READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of 

Don’t respond

SEM as well as police urge everyone contacted by scammers, by whatever means to:

  • Ignore these messages by hanging up the phone and / or deleting emails, moving them to the Spam folder
  • Never give out your credit card number or bank account information to people you don’t know
  • If you did give your card number, contact your credit card company immediately to have the card blocked. Likewise, if you gave out your banking details, get in touch with your bank.
  • In the event of threats of extortion attempts, consider filing a criminal complaint. You can search for police stations in your area on the Police website. 
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