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| U.S. says building criminal cases against UBS clients |
| By reuters.com |
| Published: 08/19/2009 |
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MIAMI (Reuters) - The United States is building criminal cases against more than 150 American clients of Swiss bank UBS as part of a crackdown on tax evasion now made easier by a deal over access to secret account information. U.S. prosecutors gave their first official confirmation of the initial number of criminal investigations in a filing on Tuesday with a federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The number of criminal probes is widely expected to mushroom soon. In the same court document, the prosecutors requested a sharply reduced prison sentence for ex-UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, a key informant in the ongoing U.S. prosecutions of wealthy American clients of UBS. The request was made a day before U.S. and Swiss authorities were due to announce details of a negotiated settlement of their legal dispute over access to further names of UBS clients suspected of cheating U.S. tax collectors. In the court filing, prosecutors said evidence provided by Birkenfeld had been critical to uncovering a "multibillion-dollar scheme to defraud the United States" involving UBS bankers and their U.S. customers. The U.S. case against UBS, which has been closely watched by the global offshore banking industry, has challenged Switzerland's tradition of bank secrecy and confidentiality. In his own separate court filing, Birkenfeld said he was the first known banker operating in Switzerland who sought to "peel back the curtain" of its bank secrecy laws. He also said his extensive cooperation with U.S. authorities, beginning as a whistle-blower in 2006, had reportedly led the United States to extend its inquiry into illicit activity by other foreign banks. Read More. |
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