where rich americans hide their money

a senate probe has accused swiss bank creditsuisse of helping 22,000 rich americans hide more than us$12 billion to avoid paying taxes on it, going back to at least 2001, and has also accused the justice department of being lax about going after the perpetrators.

creditsuisse delivered bank statements to their wealthy customers hidden in magazines, and told them to burn the statements so that there would be no paper trail. the bank even has a special elevator at its offices for these 'special clients to use, that has no buttons and is run by remote control (cool - spy gear!).

senators levin and mccain are leading the charge to reveal the names of the u.s. customers and prosecute them, which may explain why the far right is going after both of them so rabidly (via front groups, of course).

the bank is pushing back.