Friday, December 17, 2010

New accusation suggests that tax fraud continues in Switzerland

A former UBS employee and Swiss citizen has been accused of advising wealthy Americans to conceal their offshore accounts so as to avoid paying taxes to the US government. The allegations of tax fraud date from 2000 up through this month.

Renzo Gadola, head of RG Investment Partners, was named in a criminal information filed by the United States attorney’s office in Miami. Mr. Gadola and another unnamed co-conspirator (also a Swiss citizen and former UBS employee) are alleged to have advised an American citizen not to participate in the IRS’s voluntary disclosure program and to have later withdrawn the client’s money to conceal any paper trail.

This accusation comes shortly after the end of an over-four-year investigation of UBS banking in Switzerland. Even as American authorities have continued to crack down on tax evasion in overseas accounts, some bankers reportedly have persisted in recommending and providing illegal tax havens for wealthy Americans.