The 2008 Liechtenstein tax affair began after bank computer technician Heinrich Kieber sold confidential LGT Group account data to Germany’s Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) in 2006. Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance reportedly paid Kieber €4.2 million for the information, which was transferred to tax investigators in Wuppertal. The data indicated that hundreds of German residents may have routed millions of euros through anonymous Liechtenstein trusts to evade taxes. On February 14, 2008, authorities raided the home of Klaus Zumwinkel, chief executive of Deutsche Post AG, over alleged tax evasion of about €1 million; he resigned under government pressure.
The disclosures triggered raids and investigations across Germany and prompted Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, France and other governments to seek access to the account data. A 2008 U.S. Senate investigation chaired by Senator Carl Levin described LGT and UBS as contributing to a “culture of secrecy and deception,” and estimated that offshore tax havens deprived the U.S. Treasury of up to $100 billion annually, though those figures concerned the broader offshore system. The affair also raised legal and ethical questions because the evidence had been stolen; Liechtenstein pursued charges against unknown perpetrators, while Germany declined judicial assistance in 2009. On March 12, 2009, Liechtenstein pledged OECD transparency reforms, and in 2010 its government agreed to pay Germany a €50 million fine. The country later signed dozens of tax-information agreements.
