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UBS to Hand Over Names of 4,450 Clients

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 19, 2009 9:55 AM CDT
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(Newser) – UBS will hand over the names of 4,450 of its American account holders as part of a tax evasion settlement, the Wall Street Journal reports, and another 5,000 names will be produced under a special IRS amnesty program. UBS won’t pay a monetary fine. Those being turned over may have a chance to fight the disclosure in Swiss court. The compromise gets around potential Swiss objections to the disclosures.

“We short-circuited a protracted litigation process by culling the accounts to the 4,450 that were of the greatest interest to us,” said the IRS commissioner. UBS pleaded guilty in February to participating “in a scheme to defraud the US,” and since then, four clients have pleaded guilty to tax evasion. And more are to come, according to one legal expert. “UBS is the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “The facts were just so egregiously against UBS.”

In this Jan. 30, 2008 file photo, the logo of Swiss Bank UBS on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse, Switzerland.
In this Jan. 30, 2008 file photo, the logo of Swiss Bank UBS on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse, Switzerland.   (AP Photo/Keystone, Walter Bieri, file)
In this Feb. 12, 2009 file photo, the logo of the Swiss bank UBS, is seen in Aarau, Switzerland.
In this Feb. 12, 2009 file photo, the logo of the Swiss bank UBS, is seen in Aarau, Switzerland.   (AP Photo/Keystone, Alessandro Della Bella, File)
In this March 12, 2008 file photo, dark clouds hang above the logo of the UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) in Zurich, Switzerland.
In this March 12, 2008 file photo, dark clouds hang above the logo of the UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) in Zurich, Switzerland.   (AP Photo/Keystone, Alessandro Della Bella, file)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 12 comments
odowd80
Aug 19, 2009 8:14 AM CDT
@serfinWI: Its a sad day when conservatives stoop to the level of defending tax-evading billionaires. What possible motivation can you have for defending these people. Your comments make me embarrassed to be an American. I bet you think these guys earned their fortunes too.
So_Cal_Larry
Aug 19, 2009 8:01 AM CDT
The money value of all assets owned in this country continues its trend to more and more being held by fewer and fewer. That is very bad news for a democracy. Of the total income earned each year in this country, increasing percentages of it are being paid to decreasing numbers of people. In short, too much is being earned by too few. That's very bad for a democracy. And now, as we have known for a long time, the very wealthy have been shielding their wealth and their interest and dividend income from the tax man using all sorts of methods conjured up by a criminal Swiss bank. We should hope that the IRS will be pressing for prison terms for these big-bucks tax cheats. If the 'Queen of Mean' (Leona Helmsley) can spend some time in the slammer, so can these off-shore big bucks tax cheats like John McCarthy of Mailbu. Prosecute all of them, IRS. No safe haven should be given to a single one of them. Prison and extremely large fines MUST be given.
Fondue
Aug 19, 2009 7:51 AM CDT
I love when people compare the national budget to the household checkbook. Just doesn't work out. I'm sorry, it just doesn't compare in the least. I don't have international treaties and agreements to worry about, I don't have to consider the jobs of a nation when paying my electric bill, or buy groceries. I watched that Marijuana Inc. show recently and that guy says he's paying close to $1m in taxes; I would speculate the 8,000 wealthy owe more than just a mil each. Time will tell.

 
Switzerland • UBS • tax evasion • settlement • tax haven • Swiss bank

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