The investigation and prosecution of tax evasion has, in the last decade, grown from a specialized subcategory of law enforcement into a first-tier policy concern for the global community. Starting with the U.S. government’s crackdown on Swiss bank UBS in 2008, there has been a steady drumbeat of news about… – Continue reading
As the curtain falls on Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf’s career in government, one of the most abiding legacies she leaves behind is the collapse of Swiss banking secrecy under her watch as Finance Minister. Her predecessor, Hans-Rudolf Merz, told the world in 2008 that it would “break its teeth on Swiss banking… – Continue reading
Former UBS bank executive Raoul Weil believes the United States tried to use him to batter down Swiss banking secrecy by having him arrested and placed on trial last year. In an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Wednesday, Weil said the US Department of Justice intended to “lead me… – Continue reading
Raoul Weil, a former UBS Group AG banker, faces tax-dodging charges in France less than a year after he was acquitted of U.S. tax conspiracy allegations. France’s national financial prosecutor charged Weil with helping tax evasion and illicit marketing and set a payment similar to bail at 200,000 euros ($226,000)… – Continue reading
At least 21 financial advisers in Switzerland charged with aiding American tax dodgers are at large With its tan marble floors and leather-clad reception desk, the staid Zurich offices of the Julius Baer Group, one of Switzerland’s largest private banks, are an unlikely place to find an alleged fugitive from… – Continue reading
Who Will Be Next? How To Respond To A Tax Investigation The international political community continues to make the most threatening noises about those who they believe do not pay enough tax. Long gone it seems are the days where it was accepted that a person could properly organise his… – Continue reading
Former UBS AG executive Hansruedi Schumacher pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. as part of the government’s prosecution of financial industry officials who help Americans dodge taxes. Schumacher, 56, entered his plea Thursday in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida. Schumacher, who also worked at Neue Zuercher… – Continue reading
Who Will Be Next? How To Respond To A Tax Investigation The international political community continues to make the most threatening noises about those who they believe do not pay enough tax. Long gone it seems are the days where it was accepted that a person could properly organise his… – Continue reading
The lesson from the ongoing trial of former UBS wealth management chief executive Raoul Weil really shouldn’t be a surprise, but we’ll say it anyway: Do not fail to declare income from offshore investments to avoid taxes. Unless, that is, you and your clients would prefer a really close relationship… – Continue reading
In a big setback to the IRS’s juggernaut against tax evasion and offshore accounts, a former top UBS banker has been acquitted of tax evasion. The U.S. charged Raoul Weil with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. The former exec was facing five years in prison and a $250,000 fine,… – Continue reading
FORT LAUDERDALE Fla./ZURICH (Reuters) – From bundles of cash inside scraps of newspaper to setting up shell companies, the trial in Florida of a former UBS executive is a reminder of the extreme methods some Swiss bankers used to hide clients’ cash. Raoul Weil, 54, is the highest… – Continue reading
The secret binder lay wedged in a hidden drawer inside a filing cabinet in his office on the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, the heart of the world of Swiss private banking. Martin Liechti, a former top private banker at Swiss bank giant UBS, privately called the binder his “CYA file,” a… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – A key witness in the federal tax evasion trial of a top Swiss bank executive took the stand on Thursday to testify against his former boss, Raoul Weil, who is accused of conspiring to conceal up to $20 billion in U.S. taxpayers’ assets in secret offshore accounts. The… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Former UBS bank executive Raoul Weil was the mastermind of the Swiss bank’s illegal offshore operations that helped thousands of Americans evade taxes, prosecutors said at the start of his federal trial on Tuesday. Weil, 54, was the third-highest ranked executive at the Zurich-based wealth management firm and… – Continue reading
