Spring Break
US steps up pressure on UBS in bank secrets case
Associated Press
Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: News
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In the suit filed in Miami, the Obama administration wants UBS to turn over information on as many as 52,000 U.S. customers who concealed their accounts from the U.S. government in violation of tax laws.
"At a time when millions of Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, and their health care, it is appalling that more than 50,000 of the wealthiest among us have actively sought to evade their civil and legal duty to pay taxes," the acting assistant attorney general, John DiCicco, said in a statement.
A deal announced Wednesday provides access to about 250 to 300 UBS customers who used Swiss bank secrecy laws to hide assets. To avoid prosecution, UBS agreed to pay $780 million. The bank's chairman, Peter Kurer, said UBS accepted "full responsibility" for helping its U.S. clients conceal assets from the Internal Revenue Service.
But that does not mean the bank is about to fork over information on thousands of accounts.
On Wednesday, the government claimed in court papers there were close to 20,000 U.S. clients who hid assets through the UBS program. A day later, the number had climbed to 52,000. U.S. officials offered no immediate explanation for the revised estimate, but it was another sign they are raising the pressure on the Swiss bank.
"This shows the big fight is yet to come," said George Clarke, a tax lawyer based in Washington who is not involved in the UBS case.
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Arvensis
posted 2/19/09 @ 8:32 PM MST
Has it occurred to Americans that there might be a reason these "higher ups" and rich folks are not paying taxes? Maybe they know something we don't?
Every single case that has gone to the Supreme Court in the US has ruled in favor of the defendant who "hasn't been paying his taxes". (Continued…)
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