Jailed Nini Ricci heiress used Panama for $22 million tax fraud

ARLETTE RICCI, heiress of the French fragrance giant Nina Ricci, has-been sentenced in France to a year in prison and two years on probation and fined more than$4 million, for tax evasion.

She is the first person convicted in the so-called Falciani scandal, Which is a list of clients of HSBC offshore bank accounts including ones in Panama, to evade taxes. The list was leaked by Herve Falciani an employee of the bank named. She is the first of 50 defendants expected to be tried in the case.
The incident has revealed tax evasion in Europe that is estimated at more than $120 billion.
Earlier reports showed that HSBC in Panama transferred at least $2.8 billion of illegal funds to HSBC London. HSBC is no longer in the country.
Investigators French proved that Ricci withheld more than $22 million from the French Treasury by using encrypted accounts and offshore companies in Panama.
The scandal, in part, has led to a greater examination of Panama’s financial services industry, and it has-been included on a gray list compiled by the Financial Action Group (FATF) due lack of adequate controls for the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
It is unlikely that Panama will exit the list this year, although the government is trying to fast track as many of the changes demanded by the FATF are still being debated. Other countries have taken an average of three years to approve the regulations necessary to ensure proper implementation of the changes.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has condemned Panama Also for lack of transparency and failings in the exchange of tax information.