Ex-UBS banker gets 40-month sentence

August 22, 2009|Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A former banker described by prosecutors as the man most responsible for sparking a broad US investigation into rich Americans’ use of secret Swiss bank accounts to evade taxes was sentenced yesterday to more than three years in federal prison.

Prosecutors gave Bradley Birkenfeld, a 44-year-old US citizen, credit for voluntarily disclosing illegal tactics by Swiss banking giant UBS AG and others. But they said Birkenfeld initially refused to confess his own misconduct and hoped to collect a cash reward.

Prosecutors had recommended a 2 1/2-year sentence, half off the potential maximum for Birkenfeld’s guilty plea to a single fraud conspiracy charge. US District Judge William Zloch decided on a sentence of three years and four months, coupled with a $30,000 fine and followed by three years’ probation.

Partly because of Birkenfeld’s disclosures, UBS this week agreed to disclose to the United States the names of 4,450 wealthy Americans suspected of hiding assets. Three other Swiss bankers and a Swiss lawyer also are facing US criminal charges; four US clients of UBS have already pleaded guilty and at least 150 more are under investigation.

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