Financial safety

Switzerland and Germany Unlikely Adversaries in Spy Drama

Tax collectors do not usually loom large in espionage thrillers, nor are Germany and Switzerland often portrayed as bitter adversaries in the spy game.

Yet those were the elements in a real life cloak and dagger drama revealed on Wednesday, when German prosecutors said they filed charges against a Swiss man accused of spying on tax collectors and even planting a mole in a local tax office.

The bizarre case marked the latest development in a long-running conflict between the two countries over Swiss banking secrecy laws, which Germany and other countries see as a means for the wealthy to dodge taxes.