Banking Giant, HSBC has a fresh set of allegations of illegal activity in Argentina to answer to. The Argentinian government alleges HSBC used “fake receipts” to facilitate money laundering and tax evasion to the tune of $77 million (R706 million) in that country.

Argentina’s tax authority has filed criminal charges against HSBC. HSBC said they would cooperate with the investigation as the allegations were “a great concern.” Lyssette Bravo, spokeswoman for HSBC said:

We are committed to working cooperatively with authorities to ensure a thorough review and appropriate resolution of the matter.

Just last year, HSBC paid $1,9 billion (R17 billion) to United States tax authority for a settlement of of money laundering.

Ricardo Echegaray, head of Argentina’s tax agency said:

On the basis of what’s been investigated so far, in six months we’ve recorded 392 million pesos in fraudulent transactions, generated by evasion and money laundering.

Echegaray added that the banking giant also aided its clients in tax evasion to the sum of 224 million pesos (R403 million). He also said, “We hope to recover what is due and see the courts apply an appropriate penalty.”

[Source: BBC News]