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UBS To Pay Fine, Give Up List Of Clients On Whose Behalf It Schemed
The New York Times reports:
Tearing a hole in the veil of secrecy surrounding Swiss banking, UBS agreed on Wednesday to pay $780 million to settle federal claims that it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes and to disclose the names of up to 19,000 clients....
Under the agreement, UBS admitted to conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.
It's that agreement to give up the names of its wealthy clients that's the big deal here. The bank had been refusing to disclose the names, but appeared to cave with the threat of indictments hanging over its head.
Prosecutors allege that UBS helped clients evade $300 million a year in taxes.
Last fall, Raoul Weil, who ran the firm's global wealth management and business banking division, was indicted in connection with the scheme. And a few months earlier, a former UBS exec, Bradley Birkenfeld, pleaded guilty to helping a client evade millions of dollars in federal income taxes while with the firm.
Josh
Zachary
Is this the bank Phil Graham is a director of? And if so, what did he have to do with allowing these illegal off-shore hidden accounts?
February 18, 2009 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and some of the more "patriotic" members of Congress will be on that list of names....?
February 18, 2009 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is gonna be fun!
February 18, 2009 8:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
PLEASE oh please let Limbaugh,Mccain,Hannity,O'reilly,Bush,Boehner,
Mcconnel,Cantor,Beck,and Phil Graham be on this list!!!PLEASE PLEASE
February 18, 2009 8:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Meh.
Speaking of lists, what ever happened to all those big names we thought would turn up on the D.C. Madame list?
Don't get too excited. Most of these folks are gonna be rich, but otherwise obscure, people.
February 18, 2009 10:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Most likely, many of those who WERE on the list have, after hearing about this case for months... already pulled their money out. And most likely, UBS just gave them the CURRENT list of depositors, got a hefty fine which was paid by the investors (retirement now comes mostly through IRA's, etc), and the big guys doing the illegal acts have once again gotten off scott free...
February 18, 2009 11:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
so will the list of clients be complete, or do they get to leave Phil Gramm and a few other "friends" off of it, as part of the deal?
and if it's released to the gov first, then published, how will we know the answer to that same question? enquiring minds want to know!
February 19, 2009 3:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Iran/Contra conspirators don't turn up, people like General Richard Secord, his buisness partner Albert Hakin, even old Ollie North. Some of the Contra money was in a Swiss account held by Secord. I'm sure many of those that fund right wing causes will be there along with a number of Democratic Party allies.
Could this revelation on how the wealthy avoid paying taxes along with the ecomomic tsunami we're experiencing seriously damage the way this country has been favoring the rich lo these many years? The public may finally be on the verge of sharpening their pitchforks.
If there is a revolution of sorts its the Democrats that will suffer most as they have the most to lose at this time in history.
February 19, 2009 7:30 AM | Reply | Permalink