UBS must reveal names of suspected tax cheats says US
fruitella
defrauding the world. Its a parasite on the world sucking out money
from other countries via secret bank accounts for crooks, bribery,
crime and tax fraud.
----
US: UBS must release names of suspected tax cheats
By CURT ANDERSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer Curt Anderson, Ap Legal
Affairs Writer – Tue Jun 30, 5:39 pm ET
MIAMI – Swiss bank UBS AG "systematically and deliberately" violated
U.S. law by dispatching private bankers to recruit wealthy Americans
interested in evading taxes and must be forced to reveal the
identities of 52,000 of those clients, the Justice Department said in
a court filing Tuesday.
The filing, which comes amid several published reports that the case
may be near settlement, urges U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold to hold
UBS accountable for conducting years of illegal business on U.S. soil
— business that earned the bank more than $100 million in fees but
cost the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.
"It is time for UBS to face the consequences that it has brought upon
itself," said Justice Department tax attorney Stuart Gibson in the 55-
page filing. "The United States has proven its case for enforcement."
Gold has set a hearing on whether to enforce what are known as "John
Doe summonses" used by the Internal Revenue Service to seek
information about U.S. taxpayers. U.S. and Swiss newspapers have
reported a settlement is likely before that hearing, but Justice
Department spokesman Charles Miller declined comment.
UBS spokeswoman Karina Byrne said the bank is "open to an appropriate
solution" short of going to court but said no settlement has been
completed. In a statement, she repeated UBS's contention that
disclosing the U.S. taxpayer names would violate Swiss law and that
the dispute should be resolved by the two governments rather than the
courts.
"UBS has sought to comply with the summons without violating Swiss
law," Byrne said. "It has provided to the IRS as much information as
it can from those records located in the U.S., where Swiss law does
not apply."
The IRS summons seeks the identities of all U.S. taxpayers who had an
"undeclared" account at UBS between 2002 and 2007. Many of these UBS
clients have already voluntarily come forward to settle tax
obligations with the IRS, Byrne said.
Zurich-based UBS wrote to its U.S.-based clients in March and April
telling them to close their accounts within weeks and transfer any
money to a specially created U.S. unit, to another bank or to withdraw
the funds. That grace period ends July 1, according to the source
close to the bank who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity
of the matter.
"Please be advised that if your instructions are not received within
45 days of the date of this letter, UBS will initiate any steps deemed
appropriate for the closure of and remittance of funds in your
account," the bank said in its letter.
UBS said it might liquidate the accounts and send clients checks or
hold the checks for them in Switzerland.
UBS previously reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the
Justice Department in which it agreed to disclose the identities of up
to 300 U.S. clients and pay $780 million to the U.S. government. In
that deal, UBS admitted regularly violating U.S. law through its
client recruitment methods, use of sham offshore entities and filing
of false paperwork.
"In sum, UBS has admitted that its bankers committed very serious
crimes on U.S. soil, in ways that subjected UBS to the full
jurisdiction of the IRS and the courts of the United States," Gibson
said in the U.S. filing.
One of those 300 UBS clients, accountant Steven Michael Rubinstein,
pleaded guilty last week in Fort Lauderdale federal court to charges
of filing a false tax return. He faces up to three years in prison.
Miami federal prosecutors also have obtained an indictment charging
former UBS senior executive Raoul Weill with tax evasion conspiracy
for his role in handling cross-border business and private banking.
Weill remains in Switzerland and has been declared a fugitive from
justice.
That indictment followed the July 2007 guilty plea by former UBS
executive Bradley Birkenfeld to a similar charge of conspiracy to
defraud the U.S. Birkenfeld has yet to be sentenced and has been
cooperating extensively with federal investigators.
harmony
"fruitella" <visual...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ed62b591-ebde-489e...@n11g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
Christoph Kaufmann
[UBS]
> do swiss people know or feel they are doing bad karma?
UBS is not the Swiss people.
Some Swiss people endorse the UBS business practice. Others don't.
FWIW, my guess is that those few who believe in Karma do not tend to be
on the UBS's side.
harmony
"Christoph Kaufmann" <c...@tele2.ch> wrote in message
news:1j26trw.zaer0q1o1shvkN%c...@tele2.ch...
> harmony <a...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> [UBS]
>> do swiss people know or feel they are doing bad karma?
>
> UBS is not the Swiss people.
>
oh, like all usb are swiss people, but all swiss are not usb?
> Some Swiss people endorse the UBS business practice. Others don't.
>
doesn't the swiss govt, elected by the swiss people, defend the usb
practice?
or does it have hear or see no evil style of working?
> FWIW, my guess is that those few who believe in Karma do not tend to be
> on the UBS's side.
nice to know that. how many - pct - would you say belong to the club?
Christoph Kaufmann
>all usb are swiss people, but all swiss are not usb?
Quite so. UBS has a bit less than 7.3 million employees. UBS is one of
the two biggest banks here. The banks as a whole are _not_ the most
important part of the Swiss economy. That's machinery and
pharmaceuticals.
> doesn't the swiss govt, elected by the swiss people
The Swiss government is not elected by the Swiss people.
> defend the usb practice?
No.
[Believing in Karma]
> how many - pct - would you say belong to the club?
Less than 10 percent.
If you wanted to know how much support UBS has: it's the most unpopular
brand at the moment.
--
http://clk.ch