Legal News

DOJ Refutes Report That it Will Drop UBS Suits

By Ashby Jones

Alright, let’s try this one again. This morning we blogged an NYT story that reported that the Department of Justice was close to dropping its suit against UBS AG, requesting that the bank turn over the names of some 52,000 individuals who are suspected of tax fraud.

Not so fast, as it turns out. Earlier today, the DOJ reported that it will continue its efforts to get the names. Charles Miller, a DOJ spokesman, said the U.S. will file a brief in federal court by the end of this month asking UBS to turn over the names. Click here for the WSJ story.

“While the Department is always willing to consider settlement in any case, the suggestion that the Department is planning to drop this suit is simply untrue,” Miller said. “The Department is continuing with the case against UBS and will file its brief asking the court to enforce the summons on June 30,” he said.

Turns out, several close deadlines are prompting more account-holders to come forward and settle their debts with the IRS, lawyers close to the case say. The terms of an IRS settlement offer expire on Sept. 23.

In addition, there is a June 30 deadline for account-holders to file a Foreign Bank Account Report disclosing their offshore holdings with the IRS. UBS account-holders that want to avoid additional penalties are seeking to disclose before that deadline.

Finally, there will be a July 13 hearing of the U.S. District Court in Miami in the DOJ complaint against UBS.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 23, 2009 (boomark / email).