ZURICH — Switzerland’s highest court has stepped in to revive a legal case against three men accused of breaking the country’s strict bank secrecy laws — laws that were allegedly violated when confidential documents were leaked, ultimately helping to expose a massive tax fraud scheme across Europe.
The three individuals, whose names were not included in the court documents, were originally found guilty in 2019 on charges that included banking espionage and violating bank secrecy rules. That conviction was thrown out on appeal in 2021.
After additional years of legal back-and-forth, the Zurich High Court eventually dropped the case altogether. The court pointed to significant delays in the proceedings and concluded that the investigating prosecutor had shown bias.
However, the Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office challenged that decision, and Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court has now sided with prosecutors — ruling that neither the lengthy delays nor the claims of bias were sufficient grounds to shut the case down.
“The case is remanded to the lower court for a new decision,” the Federal Supreme Court stated in its ruling.
German press agency DPA identified one of the individuals as Stuttgart-based attorney Eckart Seith. According to DPA, Seith faced criminal charges after handing over Swiss bank documents to German authorities, which set off legal proceedings tied to the illegal cum-ex transactions. Two former German employees of Bank J. Safra Sarasin were also charged in connection with the case, DPA reported.
Requests for comment sent to Seith and his legal team by Reuters went unanswered.
Under Swiss law, bank employees and outside parties are prohibited from disclosing confidential client information — and there is no exception carved out for situations where the disclosure is meant to expose criminal activity.
The cum-ex fraud scheme centered on rapid stock trades executed around the time a company paid out dividends. By moving shares back and forth quickly, banks and investors were able to manipulate the system into issuing tax refunds on payments that had only been made once. Germany’s finance ministry eventually put a stop to the practice, which experts estimated cost the German treasury as much as 12 billion euros.
Seith spoke to DPA about the broader implications of the case, saying: “The investigation of serious crimes, even by those bound by confidentiality, is desired and protected by the European legal order.”
He added: “I do not expect Switzerland to place itself outside the European legal order.”
