TIMESONLINE: The day that Toytown went to war, the traffic stopped. For more than a week Liechtenstein (population 35,000) and Germany (population 82 million) have been locked in an extraordinary row involving spies, bankers, a whistle-blower with a shady past, a furious prince – and tens of thousands of well-heeled but anonymous tax evaders. From Britain, from the United States, but, above all, from Germany.
This strange international flare-up is having its effects on the cramped streets of Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein. The Mercedes Sclass limos that usually convey wealthy Germans and their earnings to one of the safest tax havens in Europe have disappeared from public view. The German taxpayer is running scared.
“If you listen to people at home, in the office, in the pubs, it is clear that Liechtenstein is bubbling with rage, boiling over,” says Günther Fritz, editor of theLiechtensteiner Vaterland. “We can’t be treated like this.” Spies, whistle-blowers and threats: tax haven is called to account >>> By Roger Boyes in Vaduz
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
