Swiss go to Washington for tax evasion talks
Swiss officials have gone to Washington for talks on tax evasion following UBS employee admits guilt to tax fraud
Swiss officials have gone to Washington for talks on tax evasion after a
former employee of Swiss banking giant
UBS admitted conspiring to
help US clients evade millions of dollars in taxes in a case which could involve
as many as 20,000 US tax payers.
The delegation from the Swiss finance and justice ministries will discuss a
request for judicial co-operation with their US counterparts after the guilty
plea by banker Bradley Birkenfeld before a federal court in Florida, a Swiss
justice ministry spokesman told Swiss news agency ATS.
The US Department of Justice said Birkenfeld pleaded guilty to conspiring
with co-defendant Mario Staggl to hide about $US200m (?101m), attracting $US7.2m
in US taxes, through an elaborate system of fraud, according to
Agence
France-Presse.
Birkenfeld admitted that, between 2001 and 2006, while he was a director of
UBS’ private banking division, he met frequently with wealthy Americans wanting
to conceal their assets abroad.
Further reading:
Ex-UBS employee says bank helped clients hide millions