Monday, November 03, 2014

Ft. Lauderdale jury finds UBS executive not guilty in tax case

Matthew Menchel represented Raoul Weil in this lengthy trial before Judge Cohn.  Here's the AP's Curt Anderson:
A federal jury acquitted a former top Swiss banking executive of U.S. charges that he conspired with wealthy Americans to hide $20 billion in secret accounts from the Internal Revenue Service.
Jurors deliberated just over an hour before returning the not guilty verdict for Raoul Weil, formerly the No. 3 executive at UBS AG. He had faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government.
"We're obviously pleased with the verdict. This was a case that should never have been brought," said Weil's attorney, Matthew Menchel.
...
In the courtroom, Weil hugged his wife and lawyers, clenching both fists when the verdict was announced.
Weil was the highest-ranking Swiss banker prosecuted under an IRS and Justice Department crackdown on Americans' use of offshore accounts to dodge U.S. taxes. In 2009, UBS paid a $780 million U.S. fine and disclosed names of thousands of American account holders to the IRS, many of whom were later prosecuted.

3 comments:

Bob Becerra said...

What a great victory for Matt Menchel. The government has brought in the last couple of years some weak tax and money laundering cases against businessmen. They need to choose their cases better.

Anonymous said...

Businessmen have such a hard time in our community. I weep for them.

director said...

I was watching the bordom of the jury. US Government never spiced up an otherwise drab prosecution. It was so sad. Internalrevenue.com issues 5 - 7 show UBS never stopped their predatory practices. UBS officers caught are immediately called "former UBS". UBS officers not caught are further UBS "incentivized". hkmallard@gmail.com