Interpol has issued a global alert for a Kiwi banker wanted by Germany in connection with alleged tax evasion.
Paul Robert Mora, a 53-year-old born in New Plymouth, is suspected of “having played a decisive role in the development and planning of “cum/ex deals,” a statement from the Frankfurt police said on Feb. 9.
The Latin phase refers to rapidly traded shares with and without dividend rights. The alleged fraud involved financial institutions helping a buying party claim withholding tax credits on shares which had, in fact, never been withheld.
Mora is suspected of facilitating and then concealing fraudulent transactions for an investor during his time as the head of division at a major bank between 2006 and 2008, the Interpol notice said.
The deals reportedly cost European authorities 55 million euros.
A wanted notice from the Frankfurt police seeking information about Mora said he is presumed to be staying abroad.
“There is probable cause that, between 2006 and 2008, Paul Robert Mora, in his capacity as the head of a division at a major bank, planned and executed cum-ex transactions for an investor together with further bank employees and a lawyer and tax consultant,” the police said.
“These transactions allegedly resulted in a refund of the withholding tax on capital investments in the amount of more than EUR 113 million, even though no corresponding tax had actually been withheld. Within the bank, Mora allegedly concealed the true background of the transactions with the help of a deception system.”
