Israeli banking officials expressed concern Sunday that the U.S. Department of Justice will expand its tax evasion investigation against Israeli banks, following a settlement reached between Bank Leumi and U.S. authorities last week. The Justice Department found that the Bank Leumi Group helped more than 1,500 U.S. account holders hide their assets. After lengthy negotiations, Bank Leumi was fined $400 million, of which $270 million is to be paid to the U.S. federal government and $130 million to the State of New York. According to Forbes magazine, the bank will also have to divulge the names of all the account holders it helped evade taxes. Two of the group's subsidiaries, Bank Leumi Luxembourg and Leumi Private Bank, were barred from providing banking and investment services for all accounts held by U.S. taxpayers, a Justice Department statement said. The settlement also stipulates that Bank Leumi will have to assist the Justice Department in ongoing investigations into other banks that are allegedly helping clients in the U.S. hide assets. A senior source in the banking sector told Israel Hayom that the investigation encompasses some 300 banks worldwide, and that other Israeli banks operating in the United States, such as Hapoalim and Mizrahi-Tefahot, are on the list. He said it was unclear at this time whether other prominent Israeli banks, such as the First International Bank of Israel and Israel Discount Bank, were under investigation as well. Other than Bank Leumi, no other Israeli bank has notified the Bank of Israel's Supervisor of Banks Division that it was the subject of a Justice Department investigation.
