"UBS client pleads guilty to fraud" by Reuters | July 29, 2009
MIAMI - An American client of UBS AG pleaded guilty yesterday to using Swiss bank accounts to hide more than $8 million from US tax authorities and said a Swiss government official received $45,000 to help cover up the fraud.
The Swiss accounts that Jeffrey Chernick, a New York resident, admitted using for tax fraud included one at UBS, according to documents made public as he entered his guilty plea in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. UBS is at the center of a high-profile dispute with the United States focusing on alleged abuse of Swiss bank secrecy laws by wealthy Americans seeking to cheat US tax authorities.
Thanks for pitching in. Another reason to get rid of as many taxes as you can.
US authorities are trying to force UBS to disclose the identity of an estimated 52,000 US holders of secret Swiss accounts suspected of dodging taxes. A trial against UBS was set to begin in Miami on July 13, but presiding Judge Alan Gold agreed to delay it until Aug. 3 to allow time for a settlement....
So they got one, huh?
WASHINGTON - Hundreds of wealthy Americans are revealing offshore bank accounts as the US government and the Swiss bank UBS negotiate to resolve a lawsuit seeking the identities of 52,000 suspected tax evaders.
The Internal Revenue Service got 400 applications last week for a temporary program that waives some penalties related to hiding assets, a spokesman said.... The IRS will seek to collect 5 to 20 percent of the assets under the voluntary program. The deadline is Sept. 23....
They wanted all of my late payments.
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Switzerland and the United States reached an agreement in principle yesterday to settle out of court a case that sought to force Swiss banking giant UBS to turn over the names of wealthy American clients suspected of tax evasion, a lawyer for the government said....
Why is the government PROTECTING TAX CHEATS, huh?
The efforts threatened to peel back layers of Swiss banking secrecy, the backbone of the world’s private banking industry, and have rattled UBS, the world’s largest private bank.
Related: The Shadow of Debt
The push for the disclosure of client names had also escalated into a diplomatic incident between Switzerland and the United States, as UBS had argued that complying with the American request would cause it to violate Swiss laws
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And they are hiring help?
LONDON - UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank by assets, has hired more than 20 senior bankers from competitors including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group to strengthen its fixed-income division....
Ugh, financial incest!
"Swiss lawmakers rejected a plan yesterday to limit pay at UBS AG after the bank posted a record loss.
If that doesn't tell you WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE, nothing will.
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"Swiss-bank secrecy deal kept secret" by Associated Press | August 13, 2009
You know, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR the American government holler about TRANSPARENCY anymore, 'kay?
MIAMI - The Swiss and US governments announced a deal yesterday to settle American demands for the identities of suspected tax dodgers.... 52,000 American clients believed to be hiding nearly $15 billion in assets in secret accounts.... despite Switzerland’s vaunted bank secrecy. But they kept all details under wraps, including how many of the 52,000 names sought by the IRS from banking giant UBS AG will be revealed.
Depending on the scale of the deal, it could be a new blow to Switzerland’s reputation as a safe place to hide assets from the tax man back home.
Where is the OUTRAGE, MSM?
You PILLORY ENOUGH PEOPLE for failure to pay illegal taxes!
Switzerland has long been under pressure from European neighbors and the United States to open its bank records for foreign tax authorities....
I'm supposed to believe that?
I guess that's why we get another sacrificial lamb:
"Calif. man to plead guilty in Swiss bank secrets case" by Associated Press | August 15, 2009
Federal prosecutors say a Malibu, Calif., man has agreed to plead guilty to failing to report $1 million he transferred to an account at Swiss bank UBS to avoid paying taxes.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles said yesterday that John McCarthy will plead guilty to failing to file tax papers. He faces up to five years in prison and fines totaling $250,000. McCarthy’s lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment. McCarthy is the first alleged tax dodger to be named after the Swiss government agreed to US demands to identify UBS AG customers.
Also yesterday, the Swiss Social Democratic Party filed criminal complaints against two former UBS chairmen, Marcel Ospel and Peter Kurer, related to the bank’s alleged practice of helping US clients evade taxes. The party has asked prosecutors whether they can be charged with fraudulent business practices and abetting tax fraud.
I won't hold my breath on that "investigation."
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"UBS to divulge secret accounts" by Reuters | August 17, 2009
GENEVA - The landmark deal, ending a dispute in which US authorities had sued to force UBS to disclose 52,000 US clients suspected of tax evasion, removes a big cloud hanging over the world’s second-biggest wealth manager.
It also formally leaves Switzerland’s cherished banking secrecy intact, though many Swiss private bankers say it has been badly damaged....
Then it is not really a "landmark," is it?
The newspaper said the US government had backed off from the original demands of the Internal Revenue Service because the US Treasury secretary did not want to provoke another financial crisis by pushing UBS over the edge....
Now IF YOU DON'T THINK BANKS are CALLING the SHOTS, well.... you have your head in a warm, dark, stinky place and need to remove it post-hast!
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And how did these tax cheats accomplish their deceit?
UBS helped them with -- can you believe it -- SHAM COMPANIES!!!
MIAMI - Wealthy American clients of Swiss bank UBS AG used sham corporations set up in havens from Hong Kong to the British Virgin Islands as part of their efforts to evade US taxes, according to documents filed in Florida and California court cases.
The shell corporations, or “pass-through entities,’’ were key elements of the tax-evasion schemes, but they also helped federal investigators snare the UBS clients. It’s cheap to set up the shell corporations in countries with little or no income tax and a lenient regulatory system, said Martin Press, a tax attorney with the Gunster law firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The most recent UBS client to plead guilty to tax charges, John McCarthy of Malibu, Calif., used a Hong Kong-based entity called COGS Enterprises Ltd. to open a UBS account in 2003. A statement of facts signed by McCarthy shows that he had more than $1 million transferred from his US-based businesses to the secret UBS account opened in the COGS name. “It is absolutely typical. They usually use one or more pass-through entities,’’ Press said. “The common thread of all of them is that it is relatively inexpensive to create. If it wasn’t, you might as well pay the taxes.’’
Hong Kong also figured in the tax-evasion scheme UBS ran for New York businessman Jeffrey Cherkin, who created corporations based there that federal prosecutors said were used to hide from the Internal Revenue Service commissions he was paid by Hong Kong and Chinese toymakers. Cherkin pleaded guilty to filing a false 2007 tax return and faces three years in prison. Cherkin admitted to another wrinkle: When he needed money, he had bank checks made out to his US company from offshore UBS accounts and would carry them by hand from Hong Kong to the United States. On average, Cherkin brought to the United States about 12 checks a year totaling some $300,000, according to documents filed in Fort Lauderdale federal court.
Two other UBS clients who have pleaded guilty to US tax charges admitted opening accounts using entities in the British Virgin Islands and Panama, respectively, to conceal income from the IRS. The offshore shell entities are the common element in all four criminal cases. The reason, tax attorneys say, is that the information disclosed by UBS earlier this year for about 300 clients focused on those with corporate bank accounts for apparent shell corporations.
“It is only those cases that are in the pipeline,’’ said George Clarke, attorney with the Miller & Chevalier law firm. Those accounts were turned over to the IRS as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with US authorities in which UBS also agreed to pay a $780 million penalty.
Because only UBS knew who the real account holders were, investigators used the sham corporations to trace the flow of money and figure out who ultimately benefited - and who wasn’t paying taxes. The Zurich-based bank and the Swiss government last week finalized an agreement with the Justice Department on a separate US effort to obtain the identities of some 52,000 additional UBS clients, but precise details have not yet been released. It’s likely that some of these cases also will involve shell corporations but others may not when the final agreement is filed as soon as this week in Miami federal court.
McCarthy’s use of a Hong Kong account illustrates how the tax evasion schemes commonly worked. According to court documents, McCarthy opened an account for his Hong Kong entity at UBS’s operation in the Cayman Islands. He was told by UBS advisers that “a lot of United States clients don’t report their income and just take it off the top.’’
So, beginning in 2003, McCarthy skimmed money from his US bank account and transferred it to the UBS account opened for the Hong Kong entity known as COGS. Later, an unidentified Swiss lawyer set up a foundation in Liechtenstein to “allow for an extra layer of privacy and help to conceal defendant’s liability,’’ according to the documents.
As late as 2008, former UBS representatives and McCarthy’s Swiss lawyer sought to transfer his UBS money to another Swiss bank “in an attempt to continue efforts to hide the funds from the United States government,’’ according to the statement of facts filed last week in Los Angeles federal court. McCarthy faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced Sept. 14.
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Nice piece, but those two guys are small fry.
More than 150 UBS AG clients in the United States are under investigation for concealing income and assets offshore at the bank, a prosecutor said in a court filing.
The scope of the investigation was disclosed yesterday in a memo recommending that former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld serve 30 months in prison for conspiring to help wealthy Americans evade taxes. Birkenfeld, 44, pleaded guilty in June 2008 to conspiracy, saying he helped clients evade taxes through the Swiss bank. UBS agreed Feb. 18 to pay $780 million to avoid prosecution for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. The bank gave account data on 250 clients to the Internal Revenue Service.
“Ultimately, based upon information obtained from UBS as part of the deferred-prosecution agreement, the United States is criminally investigating more than 150 Americans across the country who are believed to have concealed income and assets at UBS, in violation of United States law,’’ acting US Attorney Jeffrey Sloman said in the filing.So we have three names now?
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"To settle suit, UBS will reveal data on 4,450 accounts" by Elena Logutenkova, Bloomberg News | August 20, 2009
ZURICH - UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank, will divulge information on 4,450 accounts to settle a US lawsuit that sought names of American clients suspected of evading taxes.
Slowly but surely, drip. drip?
Switzerland and the United States announced the agreement yesterday, resolving a six-month legal tussle that put unprecedented pressure on Swiss banking secrecy. The accord will help the United States pursue “tax cheats around the world,’’ Internal Revenue Service commissioner Douglas Shulman said.
Pfft!
UBS, the world’s second-biggest manager of money for the rich, admitted in February to participating “in a scheme to defraud the US’’ and agreed to pay $780 million and disclose the names of more than 250 clients who allegedly hid assets from the IRS. A day later, the IRS sued the Zurich-based bank for information on up to 52,000 clients.
“UBS got caught red-handed and gave the United States a great opportunity to make an example of it,’’ says Cedric Tille, a professor at the Graduate Institute in Geneva and a former economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see some highly visible prosecutions’’ among UBS account holders, he said....
I would. Show trials? Or all forgotten during the "recovery."
"US indicts 2 as UBS inquiry expands" by David Voreacos, Bloomberg News | August 21, 2009
NEWARK - A former UBS AG manager and a Swiss lawyer were indicted yesterday in a widening US crackdown on bankers and lawyers who allegedly helped wealthy Americans hide assets from the Internal Revenue Service....
Prosecutors said this week that 150 Americans are under criminal investigation....
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"Under pressure, Swiss banks seek new markets" by Warren Giles and Dylan Griffiths, Bloomberg News | August 21, 2009
GENEVA - Swiss private bankers are turning to emerging markets and shunning American clients as the government’s agreement to hand over the details of 4,450 UBS accounts to US authorities erodes bank secrecy.
Why is THEIR PRIVACY ABOVE all others?!!!!
Five months ago, Switzerland said it would renegotiate treaties to avoid being blacklisted as an uncooperative tax haven. Swiss banks hold $2 trillion for individuals overseas, or 27 percent of the globe’s offshore wealth, according to Boston Consulting Group and the Swiss Bankers Association.
“It shows Swiss banks can be put under pressure by foreign tax authorities,’’ said Teodoro Cocca, a professor of wealth management at Johannes Kepler University in Austria. “Bringing new money to Switzerland will be considered risky.’’
Some of Switzerland’s 300 banks are already shifting their focus to Asia, Russia, and the Middle East, stressing their financial expertise and Switzerland’s reputation for security....
Yeah, even though the bank lost money above (but still got to keep the bonuses).
The Swiss tradition of bank secrecy dates to the 19th century.
And way before that, folks.
The first laws forbidding bankers from disclosing information were enacted in 1934, a year after Hitler passed legislation threatening to imprison Germans who didn’t declare money held abroad.
Oooooooooohhhh!! THAT'S WHY the guy is FLOGGED REPEATEDLY and why the ZIONIST-CONTROLLED STATE HISTORY TEXTS are WRITTEN as SUCH!!!
WOW!! WOW!!!!!
“This agreement doesn’t undermine Swiss bank secrecy,’’ said Michael Ambuehl, Switzerland’s chief negotiator on the UBS settlement. “I don’t think that there will be pressure on other Swiss banks on the basis of the UBS agreement....
Yeah, we know.
The settlement complies with existing Swiss laws under which tax fraud, or actively misleading authorities, is a crime and tax evasion, or failing to declare assets, is not.
The what?
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A former banker described by prosecutors as the man most responsible for sparking a broad US investigation into rich Americans’ use of secret Swiss bank accounts to evade taxes was sentenced yesterday to more than three years in federal prison.
Prosecutors gave Bradley Birkenfeld, a 44-year-old US citizen, credit for voluntarily disclosing illegal tactics by Swiss banking giant UBS AG and others. But they said Birkenfeld initially refused to confess his own misconduct and hoped to collect a cash reward.
Prosecutors had recommended a 2 1/2-year sentence, half off the potential maximum for Birkenfeld’s guilty plea to a single fraud conspiracy charge. US District Judge William Zloch decided on a sentence of three years and four months, coupled with a $30,000 fine and followed by three years’ probation.
Partly because of Birkenfeld’s disclosures, UBS this week agreed to disclose to the United States the names of 4,450 wealthy Americans suspected of hiding assets. Three other Swiss bankers and a Swiss lawyer also are facing US criminal charges; four US clients of UBS have already pleaded guilty and at least 150 more are under investigation.
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Okay, when was that last report? A MONTH AGO?
Maybe the MSM CUT a SECRET DEAL with the government to stop reporting on the case.
Related: UBS Picks Up Pike
Just wanted you to know where your tax loot is going, Bay-Stater, while your services are being slashed to the narrow.
