According to the Financial Times, the decision to issue the arrest warrants was met with anger by German politicians from the German Social Democratic Party which controls the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from where the tax officials are from. The developments mark an escalation of an ongoing tax dispute between the two countries.
Lauber, Switzerland’s recently appointed federal attorney, confirmed the warrants had been issued after it was revealed by Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper at the weekend.
According to the FT, Lauber said the decision to take action against the three unnamed officials followed their role in the purchase in 2010 by North Rhine-Westphalia of customer information about Germans holding offshore accounts in Switzerland.
The two countries are currently negotiating a similar deal to that struck between the UK and Switzerland earlier this year, so the news comes at a sensitive time.
