Skip navigation


Current DateTime: 08:24:58 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24355697
  • The Cost of True Love

      In the popular holiday song "The 12 Days of Christmas," the cost of gifts - from the 12 drummers drumming to a partridge in a pear tree - is quite pricey.

  • Runway Angels

      The superbowl of fashion shows, models walk down the runway at the 2009 Victoria's Secret Show.

  • Smartphone Guide

      Here's a need-to-know guide to nine devices, based on features, price, network and platform.

FEATURED QUIZZES


Current DateTime: 08:24:58 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 33793611
  • Test Your Google IQ

      How much do you know about the most popular search engine in the world? Take the following quiz and find out.

  • How Well Do You Know Your Bird?

      Let's talk turkey. Test your turkey knowledge and perhaps pick up a bit of trivia to trot out at your holiday meal.

  • A Healthier & Wealthier You

      Take the following quiz and find out how much you know about the impact of obesity on the health of the U.S. economy.


Current DateTime: 08:24:58 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24890560
  • Holiday Central

      There are plenty of reasons to believe that this Christmas holiday season will not be as bad for retailers as last year.

  • Winterizing Your Portfolio

      If 2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? A lot depends on the recovery—or lack thereof.

  • Investor's Guide to Real Estate

      Some even say the long-awaited recovery is here. Regardless, buyers and sellers alike can profit from our guide.

powered by digg
Ex-UBS Banker Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion Scheme
Topics:Banking
Companies:UBS AG
By: Reuters | 19 Jun 2008 | 12:46 PM ET
Text Size

A former UBS banker pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to helping an unidentified billionaire real estate developer hide $200 million in assets from U.S. tax authorities.

Bradley Birkenfeld, a 43-year-old U.S. citizen, told a court in Fort Lauderdale that he was a UBS [UBS  Loading...      ()   ] banker at the time, received a large salary, and was "incentivized" by his employer to carry out the activities that led to the charges.

He had previously pleaded not guilty. His change of heart and subsequent plea deal could affect an ongoing U.S. investigation of UBS's conduct in relation to services it provided to U.S. clients from 2000 through 2007, and crack open Switzerland's much-vaunted tradition of banking secrecy.

"He's going to tell the government everything he knows about what was going on at UBS," Birkenfeld's lead attorney, Danny Onorato, told reporters after his court appearance.

U.S. media have reported that UBS is considering whether to reveal the names of up to 20,000 wealthy American clients as federal authorities intensify the probe into offshore bank accounts.

In evidence he gave the court, Birkenfeld said he and other UBS bankers helped the bank earn $200 million a year managing around $20 billion in assets held in offshore tax havens and concealed from the U.S. tax authorities by wealthy Americans, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida said.

"Mr. Birkenfeld had numerous U.S. clients. A number of these individuals have been reaching out to U.S. authorities as a result of Mr. Birkenfeld's case," Onorato said.

Unsealed last month, the grand jury indictment against Birkenfeld charged him with conspiring to defraud the United States by helping the unidentified U.S. billionaire create bogus corporations and other entities to conceal the ownership of hidden offshore assets.

Birkenfeld waived a reading of the indictment in the court Thursday and then began to go over a seven-page statement of facts with U.S. District Judge William Zloch. Sentencing was set for Aug. 13.

In a seven-page statement of facts, Birkenfeld said he and other bankers helped wealthy clients set up nominee and sham entities to hold their assets in offshore financial centers, such as Switzerland, Panama, the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong and Liechtenstein.

According to the statement, they then filed false and misleading U.S. tax forms and also helped clients place cash and valuables in Swiss safety deposit boxes, buy jewelry, artwork and luxury items, and use Swiss credit cards they thought could not be traced by U.S. authorities.

"On one occasion, at the request of a U.S. client, defendant Birkenfeld purchased diamonds using that U.S. client's Swiss bank account funds and smuggled the diamonds into the United States in a toothpaste tube," the statement of facts said.

A source close to the case said the unidentified billionaire in the indictment was property developer Igor Olenicoff, who pleaded guilty in December to filing a false 2002 tax return. Prosecutors say the billionaire evaded more than $7 million in income taxes.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said UBS was widely expected to strike a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice.

UBS declined to comment on Birkenfeld. But in a statement on Thursday it said it was working diligently with Swiss and U.S. government authorities and treating the probe into services it provided to U.S. clients "with the utmost seriousness."

Birkenfeld, who faces up to five years' imprisonment, was due to be sentenced on August 13 before U.S. District Judge William Zloch.

Birkenfeld's co-defendant, Swiss banker Mario Staggl, is believed to be in Liechtenstein.

Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Tools:
Print EmailAdd This share icon
  • digg share

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS

  • Ever wished your cab driver would stop chatting and just get to where you're going? Well, that moment is closer than ever.
  • UPS truck
  • UPS is giving its customers the option to offset its carbon emissions when sending a package.
  • Romania's presidential campaign has been rocked by a video that may show the president striking a 10-year-old boy.
  • alligator
  • Raising alligators is hard work, and the fickle taste of rich consumers has just made it much harder, says the NY Times.
  • A recent issue of ESPN Magazine was one of its top sellers ever, and it only took scantily clad athletes to make it happen.
  • The continued real estate boom in China is partially fueled by a generational flood of newlyweds.
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 05:22:42 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 11:44:56 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 05:55:23 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 11:23:57 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters