The company had not filed a return since 2007, and AFIP promptly shut it down.

ECONOMIST: Politics in Argentina

In an eerie glimpse of what a cashless society enables, the government of Argentina has taken the drastic step of mandating banks to report every credit card purchase to the tax authorities, AFIP.

FORBES: Argentina Begins Tracking All Credit Cards

"They evaded taxes and laundered money through the purchase of fake receipts that were later used to justify the issuance of checks whose amounts were deposited under a generic tax identification number, " Echegaray said, adding that HSBC never informed the AFIP tax agency about it.

NPR: Argentina: HSBC Helped Launder Money, Evade Taxes