Peter Schiff Claims IRS Emails Show No Money Laundering or Tax Evasion Allegations Against His Bank
Peter Schiff stated that an IRS email dated April 6, 2022, listed the OCIF inspection results, finding no evidence that his bank assisted in tax evasion or money laundering, nor any deficiencies in AML or KYC controls.
The inspection issues were purely regulatory and administrative in nature, including the inability to hire auditors due to negative reporting by the 60 Minutes program, which led regulators to close the bank on those grounds.
Regulators pushed to close Euro Pacific Bank, freezing funds and customer deposits, while bank founder Schiff benefited from FOIA disclosures that reversed public opinion, raising questions about procedural fairness faced by traditional regulatory agencies.
Source: Public Information
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Peter Schiff previously focused on gold and overseas asset allocation services through Euro Pacific Bank. Following accusations of assisting tax evasion by the Australian 60 Minutes program in 2020, he faced a chain of regulatory pressures. Despite the Australian Federal Court ruling in 2022 that seven defamation claims against the program were valid and awarded damages, his bank was still closed by OCIF under an emergency order in June of the same year.
In terms of capital pathways, Schiff attempted to sell the bank at the end of 2021 but was obstructed by OCIF. The IRS coordinated OCIF actions through the J5 international cooperation, leading to the liquidation of the bank's assets at low prices, with customer deposits frozen for an extended period and not fully returned, resulting in a regulatory-driven asset redistribution. Schiff himself turned to litigation and public opinion counterattacks to restore his reputational capital.
Similar to past regulatory crackdowns on offshore banks, Euro Pacific Bank is under pressure as part of the international anti-tax avoidance cooperation (J5), transitioning from "investigation" to "demonstrating results." Schiff continues to disclose internal emails through FOIA victories to challenge the official narrative.
Essentially, this reflects regulatory changes: global tax enforcement agencies are closing compliant banks through administrative means rather than criminal convictions to enhance the image of J5 and regional cooperation, breaking the traditional "evidence-driven" regulatory mechanism and shifting to a "reputation and PR-driven" preventive intervention to deter potential high-risk client groups.