Hiding assets in offshore or foreign bank accounts, is the focus of this "Asset Search News Roundup". As I explained in "Using Multiple Jurisdictions To Launder Money", a common method of hiding assets is "putting assets offshore in one jurisdiction and exercising control over them through another". Those using multiple jurisdictions to hide assets however, often also maintain offshore bank accounts as part of their schemes:
- On November 21, 2008 hotel executive Stanley S. Tollman pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges. Mr. Tollman had allegedly used offshore bank accounts from 1994 to 1999 in order to hide assets and income from the IRS. According to "Hotel Executive to Pay $105 Million in Fraud Case", Mr. Tollman received a sentence of only one day of probation, but agreed to pay the U.S. Government $105 million as part of a plea agreement.
- in "Key UBS exec indicted in tax scheme", The Miami Herald reported about the indictment of UBS executive Raoul Weil . Prosecutors allege that Mr. Weil helped about 20,000 U.S. taxpayers conceal approximately $20 billion offshore during the years 2002 through 2007. The November 24 article "UBS Clients Seek Amnesty on U.S. Taxes", also mentioned Mr. Weil’s indictment. It further indicated that, (because of anticipated tax fraud investigations), some UBS clients hiding assets offshore have approached the IRS hoping for amnesty.
- The Reuter’s article: "FACTBOX: Status of bank secrecy protection in Europe" stated that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama "will open up a a new front in a growing campaign against Swiss banking secrecy". It essentially reported that France and Germany are calling for greater scrutiny of offshore banking in high-risk geographical locations, such as Switzerland or other tax havens.
Copyright 2008 Fred L. Abrams