UK woman held for evading taxes

The Hague, April 6: A British woman has been arrested and assets worth millions of euros have been recovered in a tax evasion probe in Britain and The Netherlands, apparently involving Swiss bank accounts, Dutch officials said on Thursday.

The arrest came after at least four European countries and Australia said last week that they had launched a sweeping investigation reportedly targeting the Swiss financial giant Credit Suisse.

“A British woman, 46, was arrested after a joint investigation with the British revenue and customs service into her and her 51-yearold Dutch husband. Assets of more than $ 6.3 million have been confiscated,” the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) said.

“The couple allegedly used their marketing business in Manchester to commit tax fraud and launder money via offshore accounts in The Netherlands, Germany and Austria,” the FIOD said.

During raids on Wednesday, agents seized two villas in The Netherlands, luxury British and German cars and a speedboat.

They also raided the couple’s business and homes in Austria, Britain and The Netherlands.

Tax authorities became suspicious of the couple after they withdrew more than 300,000 euros in cash from Dutch banks using credit cards linked to foreign bank accounts, the FIOD said.

The woman was arrested at another home in Britain.