Swiss Bank Will Open Files to U.S. Authorities
By Susie Madrak Thursday Feb 19, 2009 7:00pmAh yes, the Swiss bank account. Truly, the end of an era. For decades, it was the banking tool of choice for those who were hiding income - for reasons as mundane as tax evasion, but also for more nefarious purposes, like money-laundering from illegal enterprises:
UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland, agreed on Wednesday to divulge the names of well-heeled Americans whom the authorities suspect of using offshore accounts at the bank to evade taxes. The bank admitted conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and agreed to pay $780 million to settle a sweeping federal investigation into its activities.
It is unclear how many of its clients’ names UBS will divulge. Federal prosecutors have been examining about 19,000 accounts at the bank, but UBS ultimately may disclose the identities of only a few hundred customers.
But to some, turning over any names at all heralds the end of the secret Swiss bank account, whose traditions date to the Middle Ages.
“The Swiss are saying that this is the end of Swiss banking as they knew it,” said Jack Blum, an offshore tax specialist. “Nobody will trust the security of the Swiss bank account.”
As part of the settlement, UBS agreed to cooperate with a broad summons issued by the Justice Department to turn over the names. Under the terms of a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, the bank and its executives could be indicted if UBS didn’t identify the customers.
[...] Prosecutors suspect that from late 2002 to 2007, UBS helped American clients illegally hide $20 billion, letting them evade $300 million a year in taxes.
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A Banker in every pot.
A Fat Cat tax evader in every barbecue.
slow, painful death would be fine for now. I don't need the xtra protein, at least not yet.
I want ALL of Them!
flucking [chicken feed]
Now we can toss all the neocons in prison for embezzlement, fraud, and tax evasion.
I'm glad that we don't have to do through those stupid war crimes trials. It would of been million times more annoying than OJ or that stupid Aruba Girl.
And not too cool bashing the girl who went missing in Aruba.
and all that. Check out my post 3 down. ;>)
After all why should any American undergo a war crimes trial???? I mean, it's OK for the USA to invade any place it likes, abduct and torture innocent people, and become the planet's war-mnongers supreme. No need for pesky war crimes trials. Those are for non-whites, and non-Americans. Everyone knows the USA is above the law and acts with impuntity. So what if people get tortured and murdered, as long as everyone in the USA is comfy.
its just neocons?
I don't think it is just the neocons that are going to get caught with their hands in the cookie jar. I'm just saying that now there will be a reason to toss the neocons in prison without dragging the nation through a flag waiving defense media circus trial. Toss the Ollie North legal defense out the window; and, maybe there will be a real prospect of a conviction with real prison time.
If we don't pursue justice (including prison for the guilty--all of them), we're condemning ourselves to more of the same and worse. These people got away with Iran-Contra last time; this time it was an illegal war of aggression and official use of torture. What's it going to be next time? We either stop this culture of lawlessness among our high officials or we sign away what's left of our goal of a republic.
Because all then need to do is pay their back taxes and their off.
They will never pay that much back taxes. Can you imagine how much they would own counting interest and penalties?
No, it's not just neocons. Hiding money in Swiss bank accounts is a time-honored tradition that extends all the way from the Nazis TO the Neocons.
I don't see much of a difference. Same ideologues, different shirts.
Is that for me? I was responding to this comment by upchuck: "I'm glad that we don't have to do through those stupid war crimes trials."
Like if we catch them through tax evasion it fixes the torture problem. It DOES NOT.
I look forward to extensive war crimes trials. I don't care it they take 10 years and cost billions. It must be done. The whole world has to know you can't get away with it.
(But, who am I kidding??? The USA will never prosecute its own like that. Too ugly, too close to the truth, too demeaning, it reveals too many warts. It's easier to brush it under the carpet and promote shopping again. Pass the Cheetos.)
Please. That is chump change to them, and this will be the end of it. Feh.
No settlements. No plea bargains. How much Nazi loot are they still sitting on?
That's a hefty chunk of change to throw at them. The people on the other end who've been hiding funds in UBS should be worrying right now.
The Nazi loot is a different matter. I suppose you could say this shows how loyal their willing to be. $$$ talks.
And JO. ;)
I wonder how the Philster is taking this?
- Slate, 7/7/08
how soon the Philster's going to be indicted?
Couldn't happen to a bigger pile of shit!
"..Phil Gramm would lie on credit even if he could tell the truth for free."
...why bother leaning on the Swiss? Let's just waterboard Phil Gramm. He knows where ALL the tax-evasion skeletons are buried.
And as for Gramm running USB into the ground, that too is part of a time-honored tradition of Republican business acumen. I'm just surprised the turtle-faced prick only reduced the value by 70%. At least it's still in the black. I can only conclude it was because he wasn't there long enough to put it a trillion dollars or so in debt.
Q: How do you set a Republican up in a small business?
A: Set him up in a BIG business, and wait.
Al Capone for tax evasion?
“The Swiss are saying that this is the end of Swiss banking as they knew it,” said Jack Blum, an offshore tax specialist. “Nobody will trust the security of the Swiss bank account.”
He says that like it's a bad thing.
Let me fix it up for Mr. Blum: "No crooks will trust the criminality of the Swiss bank account.”
Awwww. Poor rich criminals, guess they'll have to shop elsewhere.
“Nobody will trust the security of the Swiss bank account,” said Jack Blum, an offshore tax specialist...
What a skewed sense of priorities. The bastards, we can't trust a Swiss bank anymore... to hide the profits made off money laundering, fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion and organized crime.
What a shame.
If the IRS has this much control all of a sudden over the Swiss banking industry, why did it take this long to get to this point???
because thiers so many other places to hide thier money other the switzerland now?
they were just too busy tracking down that 2.something trillion the pentagon reported lost on 9/10/01.
Let Dick Cheney get stung holding a few hot Billion.
There should be a world agreement that there are no secret bank accounts. The only reason for having secret accounts is to hide money-- usually ill-gotten or illegal. These bankers are complicit in the crime. I can only imagine the final total is in the trillions when you consider other places/countries that hide money too. In the meantime, you, the taxpayer, foot the bill for these people absconding with the loot.
So for abetting criminals hide ill-gotten money, you end up being one of the richest countries in the world. Hardly seems right to me.
Is any of this right, or fair????? By the rich, for the rich only.
that once the Powers that Be (you know, the rich elitist-class you refer to) have taken all of our money, have created some sort of a global banking system, and have their New World Order global governing body in place, there will be no need for them to have Secret Bank Accounts......
It's hidden in plain sight because it's so small.
a bank account and a Roth and an IRA and health insurance and a job...oh, well.
tax havens? Switzerland, Cayman Islands, Bermuda?
didn't routinely espouse such virulent hatred for those less well off than themselves, I might feel bad for anyone who gets justifiably reamed by this. Nah, fuck em.
Gotta love plutocratic corporate welfare bums. People who live in the United States, make use of every government service they can think of, and then hide their taxes in Swizerland in the name of Objectivism. As Sarah Palin implied, it's "patriotic" do evade taxes.
Saying you're patriotic is like saying you have a big cock. If you have to say it, chances are it isn't true. - Bill Maher
Wow, this is amazing, given that agencies like the CIA frequently use Swiss bank accounts to launder money. The fact that both "good guys" and bad guys launder their money through Swizerland was always the primary reason they didn't crack down on this ridicuous situation.
But hey, when we're THIS broke, we don't care. Screw the CIA, we need out 20 billion in evaded taxes back!
Also, now maybe they can find out where that 10 million that The Sultain of Brunai illegally gave to that dickhead Oliver North to fund the Contras actually went. Maybe Rod Blagojavich ended up with it, which would be poetic justice.
media going to spin this.
Claim Obama is wasting resources going after Americans when TERRORISTS are coming to get us. Part of his socialist agenda.
but I'm pretty sure this investigation started way last year, before Obama had even won the primaries. I'm thinking it must be another one of their "distraction" techniques to keep the masses quelled - you know, we see a couple of Tax evaders get hauled off to prison, and we're all happy thinking the IRS is really protecting the integrity of our system
(while the Bush's et al are busy moving all of their cash out the back door and into Dubai or Paraguay or wherever).
By saying Obama has only been in office for a month, and he's ALREADY "alienating our international allies."
most recent crisis by the liquidity provided by illegal drug money. They all take it, they all launder it, they all profit from it. It's just like the drug smuggling enterprises of the CIA and the Bush Family: crime is just another source of business profits.
Wasn't this all started a year or so ago when the German government was given a bunch of documents by a disgruntled former employee of a Swiss bank showing accounts of Germans hiding money?
Looks like many well-connected types will escape scrutiny.
CEO's of American Banks being paid HUGE kickbacks by Wall Street traders to sell mortgage swaps and forclose on the homes that they sold mortgage swaps on.
I believe that this will lead to a huge insider trading scam.
If the Geithners and Daschles of the world, men who have been offered jobs in the Obama administration as of late, can't honestly keep track of all the cash they have, don't you think that opening the records of UBS will implicate a lot of "nice" rich folks who've been quietly stashing their wealth in swiss bank accounts? Something like this could implicate all sorts of people and reek havoc in an already chaotic environment, I would bet that there is some major backroom negotiating going on her in order to not have 3/4 of Washington and the CEO class of the USA shitting bricks that they are going to be called to answer for billions in rainy day accounts.
Holy shit! I bet that David Miscaviage and the other Scientology crime bosses are shitting themselves and packing their bags for some South American third world shithole getting ready to hide!
They're tax exempt.
By: Truth_Critic On Thu, 01/15/2009 - 20:23
JPMorgan chief attacks mortgage plan
By Francesco Guerrera in New York
Published: January 15 2009 12:18 | Last updated: January 15 2009 23:44
Snip - "Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, on Thursday attacked a proposed law to allow US judges to modify mortgages, saying it would have a “chilling effect” on consumer lending and lead to an increase in personal bankruptcies."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ba131bc2-e2f6-11dd-...
PS. heed, ["UBS" to face pay-out calls overMadoff ties]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBS_AG
Snip - The bank continued to refuse to pay after January 6, when Luxalpha gave the Luxembourg arm of UBS written permission to repay all investors who had requested redemptions by November 17, according to the ruling. The judge wrote that UBS’s refusal to pay was “manifestly unjustified” and dismissed the argument that the funds were affected by a US court order to freeze all assets relating to Madoff vehicles. Show Me The Money!
Just being cynical, but why would anyone set up an account underneath their name? There are much better, and legal, ways of doing this (trusts, etc.). Let alone with a major bank in Switzerland. Liechtenstein is right next door.
Turks and Caicos anyone??
Why does the US government feel it necessary to tax expats living abroad? Asides from the jokes about the US and the "my military is bigger than yours" comment, I don't see the benefit. No healthcare, no retirement, no education benefits... What??
Yeah, that sucks. I feel sorry for my American friends teaching in Korea with me.
because the expats, like so many others, allowed their label to be changed from human to citizen and they "must" pay for the "privilege" of wearing that label.
They got me!
For those of you that don't know me well, I will never stop harping on about the torture. Not ever. It's not something I'm prepared to sweep under the carpet. It is a crime against the planet.
then I have to assume that the names of their "biggest depositers" will look like George Soros, Ted Kennedy, Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford...
and names like George H.W. Bush, T Boone Pickens, Phil Graham, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limpbag... will NEVER see the ligh of day. The BUSHIES never lost an opportunity to turn a government action into a brazen partisan political act.
In 2012 they will be back in charge, the same Corporate Zionist Cabal Scum. This time they will take all thats left and turn the Industrial Military Complex on you. The slow economic death has begun and you all let it happen just like the German People let the Nazis take over, like sheep. Mission Accomplished, you betcha. Now head on down to your local Wal Mart and stock up on Kraft Dinner and Spam, suckers.
Just goes to show how much harm one corrupt Republican with too much power and greed and too few brains can do.
Seems to me Mr Obama just got 10% of his Stimulus Package money back. AND that there is another $300 million per year for at least 5 years waiting to be collected - and this just from one Swiss bank. Imagine how many others there are! Going after tax cheats (and the big evaders turn out to usually be the super rich) is the way to go. Level the playing field, I say. The mortgage bailout plan is a drop in the bucket compared with what must be collected from these unpatriotic tax evaders.
I took a second job at my church for 6 months last year to try and help the family finances and ended up OWEING $600+ in Fed taxes. There was no question about paying it--I take being an American citizen seriously when it comes to taxes. I'll bet these same sleazebags think of themselves as "Patriots". Name & shame them I say!!
I used to take that obligation very seriously also. But after seeing the outright thieft of tax dollars and the use of tax dollars for illegal porposes the past 8 years I'm a very proud war tax resister. When friends of the bush faminly can double up on the expenses submitted for payment on their no-bid cost-plus contracts while our schools and highway departments go without even the minimum neccessary funds to operate the Feds can go look for money somewhere else rather then taking it from someone who can barely cover the cost of shelter and food!!!!!!!
You make some very valid points! Too bad that there isn't a way to request that our individual tax dollars go to specific places (schools, roads, etc.) like you can with a 401K!!
I'm glad the standoff with the Swiss didn't lead to nuclear war. (cf David Brin's _Earth_).
Good but the really big money crooks moved their funds to the Caymans years ago. About time to crack donw on the Grand Cayman banks if you ask me!
So, people wont trust the Swiss banks. Big deal. People have NEVER trusted banks, ask the fans and supporters of Bonnie & Clyde. Perhaps they were aware of......
The Bankers Manifesto
Congressman Charles A.. Lindbergh, Sr. revealed the Bankers Manifesto
of 1892 to the U.S. Congress somewhere between 1907 and 1917.
"We (the bankers) must proceed with caution and guard every move
made, for the lower order of people are already showing signs of
restless commotion. Prudence will therefore show a policy of
apparently yielding to the popular will until our plans are so far
consummated that we can declare our designs without fear of any
organized resistance.
Organizations in the United States should be carefully watched by
our trusted men, and we must take immediate steps to control these
organizations in our interest or disrupt them.
At the coming Omaha convention to be held July 4, 1892, our men must
attend and direct its movement or else there will be set on foot such
antagonism to our designs as may require force to overcome.
This at the present time would be premature. We are not yet ready for
such a crisis. Capital must protect itself in every possible manner
through combination (conspiracy) and legislation. The courts must
be called to our aid, debts must be collected, bonds and mortgages
foreclosed as rapidly as possible.
When, through the process of law, the common people have lost their
homes, they will be more tractable and easily governed through the
influence of the strong arm of the government applied to a central
power of imperial wealth under the control of the leading financiers.
People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. History
repeats itself in regular cycles. This truth is well known among our
principal men who are engaged in forming an imperialism of the world.
While they are doing this, the people must be kept in a state of
political antagonism.
The question of tariff reform must be urged through the organization
known as the Democratic Party, and the question of protection with the
reciprocity must be forced to view through the Republican Party. By
thus dividing voters, we can get them to expend their energies in
fighting over questions of no importance to us, except as teachers to
the common herd. Thus, by discrete actions, we can secure all that
has been so generously planned and successfully accomplished.
Is it any wonder that Bonnie and Clyde were heroes and hatred toward
the banks is so universal?
well that's mostly for USA citizens, their playtime is over for the Swiss bank accounts (though I aint so sure about that too)..
People from all over the world can still open swiss bank account easily, that doesn't require from them to arrive to Switzerland or to deposit crazy amounts of money in initial deposit..they can open an account without an initial deposit at all...
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