Brazil Senate Inquiry To Probe Intl Bank Tax Evasion Next Wk
Dow Jones Newswires
BRASILIA -- Brazil's Senate inquiry committee into banking
irregularities next week will focus on allegations that five foreign
financial institutions are dodging taxes.
In a session Tuesday the inquiry committee approved the subpoena of
Internal Revenue secretary Everardo Maciel, who oversees all federal
taxes. Maciel is scheduled to appear before the Senate next week, at
1300 GMT Thursday.
The allegations are based on a report published by daily O Estado de Sao
Paulo. According to the report, the Internal Revenue Department suspects
Citibank, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse First Boston, and
Credit Commercial de France of tax evasion. The report didn't cite any
sources.
Under the inquiry committee's working agenda, set up in early April,
executives from the five institutions will also be subpoenaed.
This, however, will depend on the approval of the Senate committee.
This week, the inquiry committee will conclude the first phase of
investigations. This phase focused on a secret operation to rescue two
tiny banks in the wake of the currency devaluation in mid-January. The
bailout operation resulted in a 1,567 billion reals (BRR) ($1=BRR1.655)
loss for the central bank.
On Thursday, the owners of the two banks are scheduled to appear before
the committee.
All the material collected by the Senate committee will be passed on to
federal prosecutors, who will then decide whether to take any legal
action.
-By Adriana Arai; 55-61 321-1224 or 965-6883;
aarai@ap.org |
