A Swiss banking executive and a Swiss lawyer have been indicted in a Florida federal court for allegedly urging U.S. clients to hide assets at a Swiss private bank in order to evade taxes, the Justice Department has announced. According to The Wall Street Journal, the defendants are said to have urged Americans to move their assets from #UBS to Neue Zuercher Bank, arguing that the assets would be safer at NZB because the bank had no presence in the U.S. and was less likely to face pressure from U.S. authorities to disclose its American clients. Prosecutors alleged that Hansruedi Schumacher, an executive manager at NZB who previously worked for UBS’s cross-border business, and Matthias Rickenbach, a Swiss attorney, helped wealthy American clients conceal their assets by establishing sham offshore entities and by falsifying bank documents. The defendants regularly traveled to the U.S. to confer with clients and lied to U.S. authorities about the reasons for their travel, the indictment alleged. Prosecutors also alleged that the defendants discouraged their U.S. clients from voluntarily revealing their Swiss accounts to U.S. tax authorities. Among the details disclosed in the 14-page indictment, Messrs. Schumacher and Rickenbach allegedly assisted two U.S. clients who pleaded guilty in recent weeks to hiding assets in Swiss accounts.
Swiss Banker and Lawyer Indicted in Tax Evasion Case
A Swiss banker and lawyer have been indicted in a tax evasion case, accused of hiding American clients’ assets to evade taxes.
August 21, 2009