Perp Walks Begin: UBS Client Pleads Guilty

Forbes digital news service reports that a New Jersey client of the international banking giant UBS has pleaded guilty to concealing more than $6 million in assets in Swiss bank accounts. Juergen Homann of Saddle River is the fifth US client of UBS to plead guilty in an ongoing federal investigation into the bank’s practices. UBS officials have admitted helping wealthy American clients use foreign accounts to hide assets from the IRS.

Homann, 66, is a German-born U.S. citizen runs an industrial mineral and chemical trading company that does business mainly between China and Latin America. Prosecutors say Homman established an account with UBS in the late 1980’s in the name of a Liechtenstein foundation. Under the advice of Swiss lawyer Matthias Rickenbach, prosecutors say Homann transferred his assets to a Hong Kong corporation to hide assets from the IRS. Rickenbach was indicted for fraud in August for his alleged role in helping wealthy clients conceal their assets.

Under terms of the plea agreement, Homann pleaded guilty to one count information for purposely failing to report his foreign accounts. He acknowledged in a Newark federal courtroom Friday that in addition to not filing the required disclosure forms, he failed to report the account on his individual tax return and failed to report income earned on the account. Homann faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine that could potentially reach several million dollars.

UBS has entered into an agreement with the authorities to divulge names of some 4,450 wealthy Americans suspected of evading taxes through secret bank accounts.

Michael Ben’Ary, a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice’s tax division, said Homann’s guilty plea is part of a wider multi-agency investigation that is continuing in New Jersey and nationally.

UBS clients Steven Michael Rubinstein of Boca Raton, Fla., Robert Moran of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and Jeffrey Chernick of Stanfordville, N.Y. have all pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return as part of the case. UBS client John McCarthy of Malibu, Calif., has pleaded guilty for failing to report his ownership of and interest in a foreign financial account.

“The IRS is serious about pursuing people with hidden offshore accounts, and we are stepping up our international efforts,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said in a statement. “People should make sure they meet their filing requirements. Failure to do so can carry serious consequences.”

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