Credit Suisse froze accounts to investigate over US assets

Credit Suisse, under pressure of the U.S. judiciary in the case of Dan Horsky, a former MBA-lecturer in Bern,  has frozen several dozen accounts as it attempts to verify whether the assets have been taxed correctly, after the firm pledged to come clean about secret assets, according to a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported.

The bank wants to show that any hidden accounts were a lapse in controls and not a criminal act, another person familiar with the matter said. 

Dominique Gerster, a spokesman for the Zurich-based bank, and Nicole Navas, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to comment on Wednesday about the freezing of accounts.

Credit Suisse, which paid a $2.6 billion fine with its guilty plea, is struggling to overcome its problems with U.S. tax authorities as it pins its future on managing money for the wealthy.

The bank will have to proof that it didn't knowingly and willingly manage undeclared U.S. assets, but simply overlooked the fact and thus failed to inform the relevant authority.

Credit Suisse was one of 85 Swiss banks that signed agreements with U.S. prosecutors admitting they helped Americans evade taxes. Eighty of those banks signed non-prosecution agreements through a disclosure program that forced them to reveal their secrets.