U.S. Justice Department indicts Swiss bank Wegelin

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. Justice Department indicts Swiss bank Wegelin

By Lynnley Browning

Thu Feb 2, 2012 9:55pm EST

(Reuters) - The United States indicted Wegelin, the oldest Swiss private bank, on charges that it enabled wealthy Americans to evade taxes on at least $1.2 billion hidden in offshore bank accounts, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

The announcement, by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, represents the first time an overseas bank has been indicted by the United States for enabling tax fraud by U.S. taxpayers.

The indictment said the U.S. government had seized more than $16 million from Wegelin's correspondent bank, the Swiss giant UBS AG, in Stamford, Connecticut, via a separate civil forfeiture complaint. Because Wegelin has no branches outside Switzerland, it used correspondent banking services, a standard industry practice, to handle money for U.S.-based clients.

UBS could not be reached for immediate comment.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/03/us-usa-tax-swiss-indictment-idUSTRE81203M20120203

[Pirate Smile]

1. Ohhh, this will help "Swiss" Mitt while he explains his Swiss Bank Accounts.

[alp227]

2. as president he would give all those banks amnesty