Zurich Insurance : to pay $5.1 million penalty to U.S. in tax-evasion case

ZURICH (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said late Thursday that Zurich Insurance will pay a penalty of $5.1 million (£3.9 million) to the United States in a case involving insurance policies and accounts used by U.S. customers to evade taxes.

"From Jan. 1, 2008, through June 30, 2014, Zurich issued or had certain insurance policies and accounts of U.S. taxpayer customers, who used their policies to evade U.S. taxes and reporting requirements," DOJ said in a statement.

"Zurich had approximately 420 U.S. related policies...with an aggregate maximum value of approximately $102 million, for which the U.S. taxpayer customers did not provide evidence that they had declared their policies to U.S. tax authorities," it added.

(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Tassilo Hummel)