Legal News

UBS Wealth Management Banker Indicted

By Dan Slater

Another tax case, another UBS banker. According to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, Raoul Weil, a top global wealth management official with the Swiss banking giant, mandated his private bankers to hide assets belonging to about 20,000 U.S. clients from U.S. tax authorities. Here’s the WSJ report and here’s the indictment.

Aaron Marcu, an attorney for Weil, denied the U.S. charges. “Today’s indictment is totally unjustified and without any factual basis. Mr. Weil denies any suggestion that he was aware of, engaged in or tolerated any illegal conduct in the operation of UBS’s U.S.-cross-border business,” he said in a statement. “We fully intend to fight this indictment and look forward to vindicating Mr. Weil’s good name.”

The UBS accounts hid about $20 billion in assets, according to the indictment. The bankers used numbered accounts and counter-surveillance techniques to evade notice by U.S. authorities. “Every American who pays his or her taxes should be offended that a select few use anonymous offshore accounts to avoid paying their fair share,” said Alex Acosta, the U.S. Attorney in Miami.

In June, Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS’er, pleaded guilty to charges related to a scheme to help a billionaire real estate client evade taxes on $200 million held in Swiss and Liechtenstein bank accounts.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on November 12, 2008 (boomark / email).