Zurich-based Swisspartners Group has agreed to pay $4.4 million to resolve a US criminal tax probe for helping American clients evade taxes.

Zurich-based Swisspartners Group has agreed to pay $4.4 million to resolve a US criminal tax probe for helping American clients evade taxes.

In return, the US government has decided not to prosecute and cited the firm's “extraordinary cooperation,” according to a US Department of Justice statement.

As part of a non-prosecution agreement, Swisspartners Group voluntarily handed over approximately 110 files of US clients suspected of hiding their money offshore, the statement said.

According to the non-prosecution agreement filed last Thursday in Manhattan federal court, the asset manager and its subsidiaries helped US clients hide income from the internal revenue service between 2001 and 2011.

“The extraordinary cooperation of Swisspartners has enabled us to identify US tax cheats who have hidden behind phony offshore trusts and foundations. In this and other cases around the world, we will continue to provide substantial credit for prompt and full cooperation,” said deputy attorney general James Cole .

The deal with the US government includes four Swisspartners entities: Swisspartners Investment Network AG, Swisspartners Wealth Management AG, Swisspartners Insurance Company SPC Ltd, and Swisspartners Versicherung AG.

Swisspartners Group is required to forfeit $3.5 million, representing certain fees that it earned by for its services, and $900,000 in restitution to the IRS.

The actions by prosecutors mark the latest public development in an ongoing clampdown by the US government on offshore tax evasion allegedly aided by financial companies.

Swisspartners Group voluntarily implemented a series of remedial measures to stop helping US clients evade taxes in 2008, according to the Justice Department statement. In 2012, when Swisspartners Group was not under investigation, it also reported its conduct to the Department of Justice, the statement said.