UPDATE 3-US accuses UBS client of tax evasion, more to come

Thu Apr 2, 2009 10:53pm BST
[-] Text [+]

* US Justice Dept. accuses accountant of false tax filing

* South Florida U.S. Attorney says case "will not be last"

* Charge says accused tried to conceal Swiss bank account

* "Come clean now", IRS chief tells other likely offenders (Adds background, Swiss minister's comments)

By Pascal Fletcher

MIAMI, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Thursday arrested and charged an accountant in Florida in the first of what they said could be a series of tax evasion prosecutions of American clients of Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) (UBS.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Steven Michael Rubinstein, who worked for a company in the yacht-building business, was accused of filing at least one false tax return that failed to disclose he had an account with UBS or made any money from it , the Justice Department said.

Rubinstein, an American who also had a South African passport, was arrested at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, which the charge against him says he built with the help of funds from his UBS account. A Fort Lauderdale judge ordered him to be detained pending a bond hearing scheduled for next Tuesday.

The criminal complaint filed by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Special Agent Scott Johnson said Rubinstein's arrest resulted from information provided by UBS to U.S. authorities on the identities and account information of American clients who were using their Swiss bank accounts to evade U.S. taxes.  Continued...

 
UBSN.VX
Last:
Change:
Up/Down:
 
by Name by Symbol