Swiss Bankers Charged in US Tax Evasion Case
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Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Three Swiss bankers who allegedly helped Americans hide over $1.2 billion in overseas accounts were charged Tuesday by U.S. authorities, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Federal prosecutors in New York claim the bankers, who all live and work in Switzerland, conspired with wealthy American taxpayers to conceal funds from the U.S. government in Swiss accounts, The Wall Street Journal reported. It is illegal in the United States to not report money in foreign accounts (and income earned on these accounts) totaling more than $10,000 during any given year.
Prosecutors have not named the Swiss bank where the charged bankers were employed, but they allege that the three financial officers opened the secret accounts to acquire business lost by UBS — another Swiss financial institution guilty of providing undeclared accounts to U.S. taxpayers. UBS stopped helping U.S. customers evade taxes through offshore accounts in 2009 after admitting to charges of conspiring to defraud the United States.
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