An ex-Fortis banker was sentenced to three years and three months for his role in the Cum-Ex tax trading scandal.
A panel of five judges found the man guilty on Monday after two months of trial in Frankfurt. The German who can only be identified as Frank H. was on trial for siphoning off €51.5 million ($55.3 million) through the deals. ABN Amro NV, which has taken over the part of Fortis that carried out the trades, has returned the money to the tax authorities.
In Cum-Ex, traders exploited the way dividend tax was collected so that multiple investors could claim refunds on a tax that was only paid once. Scores of European and American banks participated at various levels, and by the time Germany stopped the trades in 2012, the practice may have cost the country as much as €10 billion.
