R i g h t a r d i a: DOJ Tells UBS They Must Release Names Of 52,000 U.S. Tax Cheats

Thursday, July 30, 2009

DOJ Tells UBS They Must Release Names Of 52,000 U.S. Tax Cheats

By Logan Murphy Wednesday Jul 01, 2009 12:00pm

It is curious that this AP article left out one aspect of the UBS scandal -- the role former GOP Senator Phil Gramm may have played in their illegal activity.

As Jon Perr wrote earlier this year, Gramm was instrumental in handcuffing the IRS while he was in the Senate, and may have paved the way for UBS to commit their crimes once he became their Vice Chairman in 2002.

Also, the Department of Justice has already convicted two of the UBS tax evaders.

As the Justice Department said: "In 2004 alone, Swiss bankers allegedly traveled to the United States approximately 3,800 times to discuss their clients' Swiss bank accounts.

The information further alleges that UBS managers and employees used encrypted laptops and other counter-surveillance techniques to help prevent the detection of their marketing efforts and the identities and offshore assets of their U.S. clients."

It is hard to believe that Phil Gramm was not aware of the UBS tax evasion scheme.

MIAMI – Swiss bank UBS AG "systematically and deliberately" violated U.S. law by dispatching private bankers to recruit wealthy Americans interested in evading taxes and must be forced to reveal the identities of 52,000 of those clients, the Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday.

The filing, which comes amid several published reports that the case may be near settlement, urges U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold to hold UBS accountable for conducting years of illegal business on U.S. soil — business that earned the bank more than $100 million in fees but cost the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.

"It is time for UBS to face the consequences that it has brought upon itself," said Justice Department tax attorney Stuart Gibson in the 55-page filing. "The United States has proven its case for enforcement."