Feds Battle UBS to Give Up Tax Dodgers

Wegelin brought down by probe

(NEWSER) - A Swiss bank older than the US has been indicted by the Justice Department for helping Americans dodge taxes. Wegelin, a 270-year-old private bank, helped some 100 wealthy Americans hide more than $1.2 billion from the IRS, according to the indictment. Clients who decided to co-operate with the investigation gave the Justice Department details about the bank's inner workings, which led to the indictment, Reuters reports. More»

(NEWSER) - The IRS and Justice Department crackdown on UBS is widening, reports the Wall Street Journal, as new documents reveal the efforts the bank took to keep its clients' wealth away from the taxman. Two recent cases have relied on channeling millions to a Swiss account owned by a Hong Kong-based enterprise. In one instance, a UBS banker told an American tax dodger that "a lot of United States clients don't report their income." More»

Inquiry into Swiss banks leads hundreds of evaders to come clean

(NEWSER) - A crackdown on tax evasion has led to a flood of wealthy Americans lining up to reveal their offshore accounts to the IRS, reports the Wall Street Journal. A limited-time offer of lower fines, coupled with the ongoing probe of Swiss bank accounts held by UBS, has produced a stampede of tax sinners eager to pay up. "Last week we had 400 applicants, four times as many as in all of last year," says an IRS spokesman. More»

Bank charges IRS is trying to trample on Swiss laws

(NEWSER) - Swiss bank UBS has rejected a demand from the IRS that it cough up the names of 52,000 suspected American tax evaders, the Times of London reports. The bank—which paid out $780 million to avoid prosecution for helping rich Americans dodge their taxes—said the lawsuit by the IRS demanding the information violates Swiss sovereignty and that granting the request would breach the country's secrecy laws. More»

Swiss bank stunned by number in court filing

(NEWSER) - The Justice Department has stunned UBS with a demand for the names of 52,000 clients believed to be American tax dodgers, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Swiss bank had expected to be asked for 20,000 names, but a court filing yesterday stated that an IRS investigator had uncovered an internal bank document referring to 52,000 secret American account holders with assets of around $15 billion. More»