Australian Tax Probe Faces Legal Obstacles

Australian Crime Commission (ACC) efforts to detect tax avoidance by Australian residents using Swiss accounts suffered a setback following an April 21, 2006 High Court ruling. In the ruling, the Court decided that Ms. K, one target of the ACC probe, was not required to answer questions under oath until the High Court decided on the legal issues surrounding the investigation. The ACC sought to interrogate Ms. K about her knowledge of an alleged $400 million tax fraud and money laundering scheme. On March 26, 2006, Ms. K received a summons requesting her appearance before ACC investigators as part of Operation Wickenby, Australia’s largest tax investigation.