Two former clients of UBS AG were sentenced on Monday to a year and a day in prison, matching what records show as the longest prison term ordered so far in a sprawling investigation of offshore tax avoidance involving the Swiss banking giant.
Sean and Nadia Roberts of Tehachapi, California, were also ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution and fines, the U.S. Justice Department said. He is 77 years old and she is 64.
The couple pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing a false income tax return. From 2004 to 2008, they failed to report interest income from millions held in offshore accounts, falsely deducted bank transfers and under-reported income, prosecutors said.
One other former UBS client, Richard Werdiger, has received a prison term that long, according to an Internal Revenue Service-maintained list of UBS cases. Other clients have received a combination of probation, home confinement and fines.
The Robertses had requested probation, and their lawyer Nina Marino on Monday called the prison sentence "a travesty of justice" because of their age, restitution and other factors.
The sentence is likely to discourage restitution in future cases and reflects the Justice Department's "rigid and barbaric approach to these matters," Marino said.
Prosecutors asked the court to impose a two-year prison sentence because, according to court papers, the couple took steps to keep their offshore holdings secret after the investigation into UBS became publicly known.
The tax returns in question covered both individual income and the couple's income from two corporations they ran, a pilot-testing school and an aircraft-maintenance company.
If you have a Swiss Bank Account, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).
For more information on this story go to Reuters
Sean and Nadia Roberts of Tehachapi, California, were also ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution and fines, the U.S. Justice Department said. He is 77 years old and she is 64.
The couple pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing a false income tax return. From 2004 to 2008, they failed to report interest income from millions held in offshore accounts, falsely deducted bank transfers and under-reported income, prosecutors said.
One other former UBS client, Richard Werdiger, has received a prison term that long, according to an Internal Revenue Service-maintained list of UBS cases. Other clients have received a combination of probation, home confinement and fines.
The Robertses had requested probation, and their lawyer Nina Marino on Monday called the prison sentence "a travesty of justice" because of their age, restitution and other factors.
The sentence is likely to discourage restitution in future cases and reflects the Justice Department's "rigid and barbaric approach to these matters," Marino said.
Prosecutors asked the court to impose a two-year prison sentence because, according to court papers, the couple took steps to keep their offshore holdings secret after the investigation into UBS became publicly known.
The tax returns in question covered both individual income and the couple's income from two corporations they ran, a pilot-testing school and an aircraft-maintenance company.
If you have a Swiss Bank Account, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).
Hi Ron
ReplyDeleteFollowing dozens of complex UBS tax prosecutions so far of undeclared Swiss Accounts, Bradley Birkenfeld was sentenced to longest incarceration of 40 months in prison on Aug. 21, 2009 as a private banker for UBS AG and assisted an American California billionaire real estate developer Igor Olenicoff. In 2001 Olenicoff and Birkenfeld met in Geneva, the result of which was a transfer of $200 million to UBS accessible by credit cards supplied by Birkenfeld to evade paying $7.2 million in taxes.
#1 - Solicit wealthy Americans to invest in the bank
#2 - Lie about the purpose of their trips to the U.S
#3 - Advised American clients how to avoid IRS scrutiny
#4 - Placed cash and jewels in Swiss safe deposit boxes
#5 - Gave DOJ info that levied $780 million fines against UBS
Billionaire Olenicoff did not go to jail and was sentenced in April 2008, in Santa Ana, Calif., to simply two years probation and 120 hours of community service. USB avoided criminal tax investigation by assisting IRS with 17,000 clients who evaded their taxes through the use of offshore accounts between 2000 and 2007. In July 2009, to avoid additional fines, UBS agreed to provide the names of 5,000 Americans who had offshore accounts with UBS.
Moral of story – Those with the best and biggest audit defense gets the best prosecution resolution deals. Biggest sentencing trickles down to the lone and least represented person – with least tax incentives.
Source Birkenfeld: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Birkenfeld
Source USB: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/5967951/UBS-strikes-deal-with-US-over-tax.html
Posted by K Chin