A
former Swiss banker has pleaded guilty to fraud following nearly two
years under limited home confinement imposed by the US government, Reuters reports.

Christos Bagios pleaded guilty on Tuesday in federal court in Florida
to one count of conspiring to defraud the US government of around $1
million while employed at UBS, the news service said. Bagios avoided five years in jail and a $250,000 fine but was sentenced to time already served.

He was arrested in January 2011 in New York, and originally charged
with helping some 150 wealthy Americans evade up to $500 million. The
investigation is part of a much wider crackdown by the US government on
Swiss banks and tax evasion which saw UBS pay $780 million to settle
criminal charges in 2009. It is understood that at least 11 banks are
under criminal investigation in the US.

Bagios is now free to retrieve his passport and travel, the report
said, and will return to Switzerland where his wife and children live.