A wealthy accountant who provided extensive help in the tax evasion probe of
UBS was sentenced to a year of house arrest yesterday after admitting he concealed about $6 million in assets from the Internal Revenue Service, Associated Press reported.

Steven Michael Rubinstein was the first US citizen charged in the probe. US District Judge Marcia Cooke said his prosecution sent a message around the globe about the risks of hiding assets in offshore accounts — and that he deserved credit for helping US investigators find more tax cheats and crooked bankers within UBS and other institutions in Switzerland and elsewhere.

"Thousands, if not millions, of taxpayers now know what the legal landscape is," Judge Cooke said. "Now, we will not tolerate offshore tax evasion."

Mr Rubinstein will be on probation for three years, including the year of house arrest with electronic monitoring and travel restrictions. He also must pay a $40,000 fine. Prosecutors had sought a year of prison time, even as they stressed Mr Rubinstein's ongoing importance to the broader UBS investigation.

Mr Rubinstein, a Boca Raton resident who is also a citizen of South Africa, said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" by his actions, the news service reported. He pleaded guilty in June to filing a false tax return and has been providing evidence ever since.