German Tax Evaders Are Smuggling Money Out Of Switzerland In Their Underwear

It's no secret that governments around the world are cracking down on tax evasion, and their number one target is the Swiss banking system.

They want the industry open up the kimono on who has money stashed in the country.

This demand for transparency, says Bloomberg, is resulting in some awkward situations for Germans that keep their money in Swiss bank accounts. Germans are the largest group of foreign tourists in Switzerland, so they often set up bank accounts there.

Now those account holders want to get their money out before the hammer truly hits, but they still don't want to declare the money in Germany.

So they smuggle it home however/wherever they can (from Bloomberg):

"We had a 72-year-old man wearing a woman's corset with 150,000 euros stuffed inside," said Markus Ueckert, a spokesman for the German customs district of Loerrach, one of the three that border Switzerland. "In another instance, a man had on two incontinence diapers with nearly 140,000 euros in between..."

"A pair of pensioners had money in their shoes, and we had a case of money hidden by the car battery," said Harald Gabele, a spokesman for Germany's Singen district. "You regularly have instances of people wearing a secret money belt or concealing it in their underwear."

Apparently this has become fun for German customs officers. One told Bloomberg catching evaders gave him a "good feeling."

We can't imagine.

For the full article, head to Bloomberg>