Feds, IRS Cracking Down on New Class of White Collar Criminals!

A new class of white collar criminals is surfacing and the FBI, IRS and the Federal Government are ready. The Swiss banking giant UBS just handed over private documents and the names of 285 Americans to the U. S. Government in a $780 million settlement agreement according to a recently filed criminal complaint. UBS has been under criminal investigation for helping scores of wealthy Americans evade taxes through secret offshore accounts that went unreported to the Internal Revenue Service. This is the first strike against U.S. taxpayers who are suspected of hiding billions of tax-free money in Swiss bank accounts. The first criminal arrest and complaint was just made in South Florida this week.

The criminal charges include failure to disclose UBS accounts to the IRS and not reporting interest earned on those accounts to the IRS. Federal authorities disclosed that many more charges are forthcoming. The federal government suspects that over 52,000 Americans are using UBS and other Swiss banks to hide billions of dollars in assets from the IRS. Even though UBS stated that disclosure would violate Swiss banking law, UBS still handed over voluminous documents and the names of U. S. citizens in the $780 million settlement agreement. Many believe that this is just the first wave of indictments and a major crack in the secrecy of Swiss banking establishments. This certainly signals that federal authorities are making good on a promise to pursue American clients suspected of tax evasion, and in some cases to make indictments.

Under U.S. law, American tax filers are required to report on their tax returns worldwide income and declare the existence of any foreign based financial account that contained assets of $10,000.00 or more. The income tax returns are required to be signed under the penalties of perjury. Any U. S. filer not disclosing the existence of $10,000.00 or more in foreign banks are in violation of the law and have committed perjury.

The Department of Justice through U. S. District Attorney Alex Acosta for the southern district of Florida said, “It is our duty to those who pay their legal share of taxes to ensure that others do not use offshore schemes to evade payment. This is the first, but it will not be the last.” U.S. authorities have intensified efforts to crack down on tax evasion amid pressure in Washington to close tax loopholes and tackle offshore tax havens.

Michael Frantz, a leading Federal Prison Consultant in Fort Lauderdale, said the floodgates are opening and he predicts many more arrests coming in South Florida as well as all over the United States.  Michael Frantz stated, “The federal government is definitely up to meeting the challenge. Currently, the Department of Justice has a 97% guilty plea rate in federal criminal cases. Federal prosecutors have over a 75% conviction rate following trial, and 91% of federal criminal defendants receive a prison sentence.” In addition, in an effort to combat this rapid rise in white-collar crime, law enforcement officials including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Postal Inspection Service, and Customs officials have stepped up their efforts in fighting these crimes by forming white-collar task forces and transferring and directing more manpower and resources to illegal off-shore accounts and tax havens.

“Now more than ever”, Michael Frantz stated, “These U. S. citizens need a Federal Prison Consultant to help guide them through this arduous process. Many of these citizens alleged of tax evasion may not have even known that they were breaking the law.  They may have been given bad advice. They need to know their options and what they can do.”