Turning Its Tax Evasion Focus to India, U.S. Seeks Client Names from HSBC Unit

According to this New York Times article by Lynnley Browning, “The world of offshore tax havens gained a surprising new contender on Thursday when the Justice Department asked a federal court for permission to force HSBC, the London-based bank, to turn over the names of wealthy Indian-American clients suspected of evading taxes through offshore accounts at the bank’s affiliate in India.” The article continues, “The lawsuit shows that tax evasion ‘is not Swiss-centric,’ said Lawrence S. Horn, the chairman of the business crimes and tax litigation departments at Sills Cummis & Gross, based in Newark. ‘It shows that the I.R.S. is moving east.’”