Irish man in €6.5m claim against bank
Wine trader alleges he was dropped as a client after refusing tax-dodge move
A MAN who refused to dodge taxes by moving his business offshore, has lodged a multi-million damages claim against tax-dodging banking giants HSBC.
The landmark case against the world’s second largest bank is being taken by Kildare-born wine trader Gerard Lynch, 46, whose firm Cuvée Speciale is based in Paris.
HSBC has already been exposed for helping wealthy clients such as one of France’s wealthiest women, Arlette Ricci, as well as criminal drug cartels, and corrupt politicians, to avoid paying taxes by moving accounts to Switzerland.
According to court documents seen by the Irish Mail on Sunday, the bank dropped the businessman as a customer after he refused to move his business offshore and he is seeking €6.4m in damages plus interest from HSBC.
Mr Lynch’s claims are being backed by a former bank manager with the controversial bank.
He also claims the bank offered to help Mr Lynch move his business offshore after it wrongly suspected him of money laundering.
But when he refused to relocate his business, Mr Lynch claims, the bank then forced him to pay back a €600,000 overdraft and that this ultimately lead to him losing longstanding customers.
The unprecedented compensation case is due to come before the courts within the next few months and it is sure to embarrass HSBC chiefs even further after the French courts dismissed a legal bid by the bank to stop it from being put on trial for helping clients hide billions offshore. The courts have also upheld a tax fraud conviction against 76-year-old Arlette Ricci.
Two years ago a former HSBC employee leaked documents which showed that the bank helped 120,000 clients conceal over €180bn in tax havens around the world and the scandal became known as the ‘Swiss Leaks’. The British bank maintained that it was unaware of what had been happening at its Swiss office but it was further implicated when documents from a law firm were leaked as part of the Panama Papers expose.
In Mr Lynch’s case, legal papers claim the bank has also been accused of asking an employee to make a false bribery allegation against the wine trader.
These extraordinary claims are made in a written statement made by former HSBC business manager Cedric Feuillard. His statement is the French equivalent of sworn and signed affidavits used here.
Mr Feuillard’s translated testimony says: ‘My board of directors suspected Mr Gerard of money laundering give [sic] the substantial growth.’
It continues: ‘I would like to highlight the fact that the board of directors of HSBC France asked me on the day I left to company to establish a declaration on my honour stipulating that Mr Lynch had bribed me in order to allow him overdrafts in his… which I did not do given that it was a lie.’
In her statement to the court former Cuvée Speciale employee Cecile Jouan said: ‘I can recall the day in 2010 when Mrs Bess from HSBC Bank called Mr Lynch at the office to offer him to move his headquarter of Cuvée Speciale to Switzerland. I remember that once he hung up the phone, Mr Lynch looked greatly surprised at what Mrs Bess had offered him.’
When contacted for comment a spokeswoman for HSBC said: ‘We strongly disagree with how the events have been presented but can’t comment further as proceedings are pending before a commercial court.’