Ex UBS Official Wanted in Tax wanted in Tax Probe Hunted Down in Italy

A former top banker from UBS, the Swiss Bank, who has been charged with the crime of assisting wealthy U.S. citizens in avoiding tax payments, has been arrested by the local Bologna Police in Italy, this weekend. The official, Raoul Weil was declared a fugitive several years back in 2009. Tax attorneys had then followed this case very closely where he failed to surrender to the law and order authorities of the United States.

Preserving their Wealth

He was working as the head for the wealth management division of UBS at that time and was charged for conspiring against the American government by helping as many as 17,000 Americans in their drive to hide assets in accounts held in Swiss Banks. According to tax lawyers, the total cost of hidden assets amounted to a whopping $20 billion! Is that it? The so called Affordable Care Act is going to cost America another $1 trillion. Who is being arrested for that?

Taken Away Under the Veil of Secrecy

As a result, UBS was levied a fine worth $780 million. Bank authorities agreed to surrender the identities of 4,450 American clients holding Swiss bank accounts, in order to keep their image clean and steer clear of criminal charges. This deal proved to be a historic break in the bank secrecy tradition that was diligently practiced by Switzerland thus far. A statement delivered by the official spokesperson of Bologna Police detailed that the arrest was made on Saturday morning and there was no information available on where he was kept, after the arrest.

The Company Fired Him Long Ago

According to the spokeswoman, when Weil checked into a hotel in Bologna, it resulted in setting off an alarm since an international arrest warrant has been issued on his name. Weil’s tax lawyer could not be contacted immediately. At the time of indictment in 2008, Weil’s tax attorney had claimed that he was innocent. When he was indicted, Weil had already been discharged from the duties he carried out as the chief of wealth management of UBS.

The fact of the matter is, according to many, if the U.S. federal government was not trying to do too much they would not be starving for cash.