Tax Dodgers

If a worker tries to dodge tax or fiddles his expenses it is a terrible crime, but the old adage "never steal anything small " seems to apply when the owning class rip-off millions in tax dodges.  According to a huge cache of leaked secret bank account files HSBC's Swiss banking arm helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars of assets, doling out bundles of untraceable cash and advising clients on how to circumvent domestic tax authorities,. 'The files "obtained through an international collaboration of news outlets, including the Guardian, the French daily Le Monde, BBC Panorama - and the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - reveal that HSBC's Swiss private bank routinely allowed clients to withdraw bricks of cash, often in foreign currencies of little use in Switzerland.' (Guardian, 8 February) RD