Former UBS Banker To Plead Guilty In Connection With Tax Evasion Case - Report

Tom Burroughes

11 February 2014

A former senior UBS private banker, Martin Lack, is to plead guilty in connection with a criminal indictment for selling offshore tax-evasion services to wealthy Americans, according to court documents, Reuters has reported.

In a court filing last week, Lack's attorney and the US Department of Justice asked a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to set a date for Lack to plead guilty. The next day, US District Judge William Dimitrouleas scheduled a hearing for February 26, the news service said.

This publication is in contact with Zurich-headquartered UBS on the matter.

The Swiss bank, the country’s largest bank, agreed in 2009 to settle criminal and civil charges of helping US citizens evade tax. It no longer provides offshore banking to US nationals. Last year, the US and Switzerland agreed to a sweeping accord under which Swiss banks can sign up to state whether they have broken rules, might have broken them, or have not done so. About a third of the country’s 300-plus banks have so far signed up the program, overseen by the US Department of Justice.

The news service report on the Lack case said Lack's attorney Peter Raben could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday, while the Justice Department declined to comment. The report said court documents do not state the charge to which Lack has agreed plead guilty.

Separately, Raoul Weil, the ex-head of wealth management at UBS, was arrested last year in Italy and extradited to the US in December. If found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison for conspiracy to commit tax fraud. Weil had been scheduled for trial in Florida on February 18.