The publicity surrounding the U.S. investigations into Swiss help for tax dodgers has focused on the banking industry. But the authorities also targeted wealth managers, and one such based in Geneva has now been caught up by activities involving U.S. taxpayers.

Geneva-based Prime Partners has agreed to a so-called Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA) with the Department of Justice (DoJ). Under the terms of the agreement, Prime Partners are required to pay a fine of $5 million, according to a statement released by the DoJ.

Prime Partners admitted to have supported U.S. taxpayers to open and manage accounts that weren’t declared to the tax authorities and to have constructed shell companies to protect the identities of the owners of the assets. The activities took part from 2001 through 2010.

Cooperation for Three Years

Prime Partners released the data of 175 U.S. customers to the DoJ under the framework of the agreement, the U.S. authority said. The Swiss company, which was founded in 1998 and belongs to its partners, managed as much as $270 million in assets of U.S. taxpayers.

The wealth manager put assets into accounts at banks including Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Baumann & Cie, Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and UBS. The Swiss wealth manager has agreed to cooperate with the DoJ for a period of three years under the terms of the NPA.

Open Banking Dossiers

The justice authority still hasn’t concluded all the remaining dossiers of so-called Tier-1 banking institutes. Zuercher Kantonalbank, Basler Kantonalbank, Pictet, Rahn + Bodmer and a string of other companies still wait for the final settlement concluding the tax dispute between Swiss banking and the U.S.