Belgian authorities detained a top official from the Swiss banking giant UBS on Thursday, amid suspicions that the company’s Belgian division may have helped clients dodge taxes, according to dpa.
Marcel Bruehwiler, chief executive of UBS Belgium, was detained at his workplace on Thursday morning.
A magistrate will now decide whether he should be placed under arrest, said Ine Van Wymersch, spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutors' office.
Investigators have been told by former UBS compliance officers that there is "a fraudulent system in place which allows Belgian clients to put their money in Switzerland to avoid paying taxes owed in Belgium," Van Wymersch said.