Page 7 of 7: Personal liability and jail time
Page 7 of 7
Personal liability
59 percent of respondents (53 percent in 2014) expect the personal liability of compliance officers to increase in 2015, with 15 percent expecting a significant increase. Compliance officers or their Executives at firms as diverse as Swinton Insurance, Bank Leumi, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Brown Brothers Harriman, and Deutsche Bank (DB: VAT fraud) have been fined, banned, or jailed (or a combination).
Criminal charges and jail time
More often, tax and public prosecutors‘ offices file criminal charges for tax-related scenarios with consequences for the businesses' reputation and the executives and employees who could be jailed. Prosecutors said they were investigating 25 bank staff on suspicion of severe tax evasion, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. They searched the headquarters and private residences in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Frankfurt. "Two of Deutsche Bank's Management Board members Juergen Fitschen and Stefan Krause are involved in the investigations as they signed the value-added tax statement for 2009," Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) said in a statement.