Tag Archive for Raoul Weil

How To Beat The Rap

Six years into the government’s latest crackdown on offshore tax evasion, federal prosecutors have yet to win a signature jury trial. Of the 38 persons indicted since 2008, 25 have yet to be tried, so the government has plenty of opportunities to bag the heretofore elusive white whale. Most of these 25 defendants are Swiss nationals, and after recent events, the thoughts of pending offshore tax evasion charges may not exactly be keeping these bankers up at night.

The Raoul Weil saga has been well-chronicled, both in this space and elsewhere, in part because it has a number of object lessons. Fist of all, Big Brother is watching. Mr. Weil was indicted back in 2008. He was living in Switzerland at the time, which will not extradite a person to face financial crimes charges in another jurisdiction. But, Mr. Weil decided to take Read More

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What Should A Swiss Banker Charged With Offshore Tax Evasion Do In The Wake of Raoul Weil’s Astonishing Acquittal?

The acquittal of Raoul Weil, the only Swiss banker to have prevailed over the U.S. government in an offshore tax evasion case, has become a source of inspiration for dozens of others who find themselves in a similar situation – indicted and living in Switzerland. As a result, many have become emboldened to come out of the shadows and start fighting.

Let’s set the stage. More than twenty so-called “enablers” are still “at large” overseas. As “fugitives from justice,” they have yet to answer charges leveled by the Department of Justice that they assisted U.S. clients in evading their taxes. Those that have had the misfortune of having their names added to this dreadful list have much to lose by way of reputation. Indeed, they are “professionals” in every sense of the word: bankers, lawyers, and advisers. Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • International • IRS • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

What Does The Raoul Weil Case Mean To You?

Iconic mobster Al Capone died in prison after he was convicted of tax evasion. More recently, after the notorious Lufthansa robbery that was immortalized in 1990’s Goodfellas, Jimmy the Gent went to prison not for his alleged role in the robbery but for a point-shaving scandal involving the Boston College basketball team. It could be that crime syndicate figures portrayed by actor Robert De Niro have a certain susceptibility to financial crimes prosecutions, or there could be something else at work.

Tax evasion and other financial crimes in New Jersey are often substitute prosecutions. Traditionally, tax evasion has been easy to prove: there are accurate and timely returns on file, or there are not. “You want to put a murderer in jail for not paying his taxes?” asked a befuddled Elliot Ness in the De Palma version of The Untouchables. Read More

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A Clash of Mammoth Proportions: In One Corner, Switzerland’s Tradition of Bank Secrecy… The Other, FATCA

While the Swiss banking system’s reputation for hiding numbered bank accounts under a cloak of anonymity was once considered sacrosanct, the seal was broken on its banking secrecy back in 2013 when it signed an international agreement with the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) to fight tax evasion. Since then, other international agreements, such as the FATCA, have continued to chip away at the remaining vestiges of bank secrecy deeply ingrained within Swiss culture.

Have these agreements marked the end of bank secrecy in Switzerland? Not necessarily, according to a recent article appearing in the New York Times. The article, entitled Swiss Banks’ Tradition of Secrecy Clashes With Quests Abroad for Disclosure, here, examines the fallout to Swiss bankers who have implemented these anti-tax evasion policies. Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • International • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

The Second Ex-UBS Banker is About to Blow The Whistle on His US Clients!

We previously posted “Raoul Weil the Ex-UBS Banker Is Coming To America to Rat You Out! where we discussed that the former head of UBS’s wealth management division, Raoul Weil, has agreed to be extradited to the United States to face charges.

US authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Weil in early 2009, just months after he was charged with allegedly conspiring to help 17,000 American clients of Swiss bank UBS avoid taxes.

We also discussed that another UBS Banker, Bradley Birkenfeld who became a whistle blower and was awarded a $104 million reward from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and this may happen all over again, now that Raoul Weil is being extradited to the US. Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

Was Raoul Weil the Ex-UBS Banker Your Banker?

TaxConnections Blogger postAn Italian judge ruled on Tuesday, October 22, 2013, that Raoul Weil, the ex-UBS banker wanted in the US over allegations of helping Americans dodge taxes, must remain in custody while awaiting possible extradition to the United States.

The decision was handed down by a judge of the Court of Appeal in Bologna, where Weil, a Swiss citizen and former head of UBS’s global wealth management business, was arrested by Italian police on Saturday. The 53 year-old banker was escorted in handcuffs into the court building by police officers to attend a closed-door hearing.

Weil was charged in the United States in November 2008 for conspiring to help 17,000 Americans hide assets worth $20 billion in Swiss bank accounts and declared a fugitive a few months later after failing to surrender to authorities.

As we discussed in our post Bradley Birkenfeld awarded $104 million (13% ) as UBS tax case whistleblower, another Ex-UBS Banker, Bradley Birkenfeld later became a whistleblower for the IRS. He said he learned in 2005 that the UBS’s advice to clients was illegal, and after reporting it to the UBS compliance office to no avail, he decided to become a US government informant. Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • International