Argentine tax agency files criminal complaint against HSBC for 4,000 undeclared Swiss accounts

Argentina's tax agency is charging HSBC with helping more than 4,000 Argentines evade taxes by placing their money in secret Swiss accounts.

The head of the AFIP tax agency Ricardo Echegaray said Thursday that Argentine citizens have evaded more than $3 billion in taxes.

The AFIP said it got its information from France, where HSBC was placed under formal investigation last week for possibly aiding evasion. The private banking branch has also been charged in Belgium with organized fiscal fraud.

The AFIP has charged the local branch of HSBC and its executives before an Argentine federal court.