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Tax Crimes: UBS Investor Criminal Tax Cases Under Way

August 14th, 2009 · 6 Comments

The New York Times reports that the United States is actively investigating more than 150 UBS investors for criminal fraud and tax evasion:

Federal prosecutors are building criminal cases against 150 wealthy American clients of the Swiss banking giant UBS as part of a continuing investigation into tax evasion, a person briefed on the matter said Thursday.

Many of the inquiries, which are being handled by dozens of prosecutors around the country, will result in criminal complaints, said this person, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
 
While it is not clear where the government got the 150 names, federal investigators received 285 names from UBS in February as part of a settlement, as well as names from other sources. In February, UBS agreed to pay $780 million to settle charges that it had helped American clients evade taxes on nearly $20 billion hidden in offshore accounts.
The United States and UBS reached a tentative settlement agreement on Wednesday that includes the further disclosure by UBS of the names of certain foreign investors:
 
Under [the settlement], UBS will release the names of clients who fit criteria set by the Justice Department.
 
A second person close to the matter who also was not authorized to speak for attribution said the criteria included clients who set up offshore entities to evade taxes and those who had contact with Swiss-based UBS bankers, in person, by telephone or by e-mail. Accounts over a certain dollar amount will be included.

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Tags: Tax Crimes

6 responses so far ↓

  • 1 UBS to Disclose 5,000 American Taxpayer Names // Aug 17, 2009 at 8:46 am

    [...] Tax Crimes: UBS Investor Criminal Tax Cases Under Way [...]

  • 2 Spartacus Rex // Aug 18, 2009 at 1:06 am

    Peter, from which School of Law did you graduate? Also, where do you presently presume lies the grant of criminal jurisdiction from Congress for the USDC to hear/process criminal cases stemming from Title 26? Thank you.

  • 3 Peter // Aug 18, 2009 at 7:30 am

    Spartacus,

    Thanks for visiting.

    I graduated from the University of Miami in 1989.

    I see you are a proponent of Irwin Schiff‘s wackozoid argument that “there are no laws making alleged income tax offenses crimes, and no court was ever given jurisdiction to prosecute anyone for committing any such offense.”

    By way of Otto Skinner, here is your answer my friend:

    26 U.S.C. 7201 makes it a crime (felony) for any person to willfully attempt to evade or defeat a tax imposed by Title 26.

    26 U.S.C. 7203 makes it a crime (misdemeanor) for any person required under Title 26 to make a return (report) to willfully fail to make such return.

    These are just two of the many crimes listed in Title 26.

    The Criminal Code, Title 18 of the United States Code, grants federal district courts jurisdiction concerning criminal violations of Title 26, to wit:

    The district courts of the United States shall have original jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the States, of all offenses against the laws of the United States. 18 U.S.C. 3231.

    From many years of experience dealing with tax protester types, I am confident that this explanation will not dissuade some from their wackroot “taxes-are-illegal” fantasies, but at least nobody can accuse me of not trying.

  • 4 IRS Amnesty Deadline is October 15th: UBS Says More than 5,000 U.S. Investor Names to be Disclosed // Oct 8, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    [...] Tax Crimes: UBS Investor Criminal Cases Under Way [...]

  • 5 IRS Alert: Last Day to File For Tax Amnesty Protection // Oct 15, 2009 at 9:17 am

    [...] Tax Crimes: UBS Investor Criminal Cases Under Way [...]

  • 6 IRS Seeks Disclosure of Names of Allen Stanford’s Offshore Investors // Dec 3, 2009 at 11:38 am

    [...] [...]

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