Three Ex-UBS Executives Put Bank in Court Spotlight in 24 Hours

[ProSense]

Interesting article from December 23.

Ex-UBS Executives Put Bank in Court Spotlight in Three Cases Over 24 Hours

By David Glovin, David Voreacos and Bob Van Voris

Three former UBS AG executives who pleaded guilty or were sentenced in U.S. courts over a 24-hour period put the largest Swiss bank in a different light than its website touting the skill and professionalism of its bankers.

Yesterday and the day before, one banker pleaded guilty and another was sentenced in separate cases involving insider trading while a third pleaded guilty in tax case. A fourth man, an ex-UBS client, admitted yesterday to hiding his Swiss bank account from U.S. tax authorities. Zurich-based UBS admitted last year that it helped thousands of Americans evade taxes, avoided U.S. prosecution by paying $780 million and gave the Internal Revenue Service data on accounts.

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Gadola, a UBS banker from 1995 to 2008, is the first person charged with trying to discourage taxpayers from entering the IRS voluntary disclosure program. Basler Kantonalbank, based in Basel, Switzerland, signed an agreement requiring it to withhold taxes for the IRS on accounts beneficially owned by U.S. taxpayers.

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Gadola, an executive director at UBS, routinely traveled from Switzerland to the U.S. to meet clients with undeclared accounts, according to the government’s criminal complaint. Twelve taxpayers disclosed to the U.S. that Gadola managed their investments, ranging in total value from $18.1 million to $46 million, according to the complaint.

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