Gold bar, a car and paintings seized in tax avoidance raids nationwide

Finance ministry investigators have seized bank accounts, a luxury car, paintings, jewelry and a gold bar in a string of raids across the country in connection with illicit Swiss bank accounts.

There were coordinated raids in Britain, Germany, France and Australia as well as the Netherlands following a tip off about the accounts, the public prosecution department confirmed on Friday.

Dutch officials are now looking into 3,800 people among 55,000 who had money stashed in Credit Suisse. The Dutch raids on Thursday centred on The Hague, Hoofddorp, Zwolle and Venlo. Two people were arrested.

Public prosecution office spokeswoman Wietske Visser told Reuters the probe will continue for ‘days and weeks’.

The Netherlands has focused efforts in the past few years on tracking down illicit savings in foreign bank accounts and operated an amnesty for savers. People who do not declare their savings to the tax office face a penalty of 300% plus, potentially, a criminal investigation.

This story has been updated to include the name of the bank