Lynnley Browning reported on May 30 that Bradley Birkenfeld, the ex-UBS banker accused of aiding wealthy individuals in hiding their money in Leichtenstein will "confess" on June 9 (after originally pleading "not guilty" on May 13) in a way that will point to others at UBS and at other financial institutions who aided such tax evasion. See Ex-UBS Banker Expected to Plead Guilty and Cooperate with Investigation, NY Times, May 30, 2008.
Wealthy clients have been creating bogus trusts, private banks, and private "foundations" in various island nations, including the Phillipines, which sometimes advertise these entity forms in ways that are intended to avoid prosecutions while letting wealthy potential clients get an idea of how to use them to avoid paying US income taxes (e.g., cast as though it is advice about not engaging in a tax shelter--like the person who says "I won't mention here the way you can evade taxes by creating a company in which you place assets through nominee relationships....."). These prosecutions of bankers should make them somewhat leery of engaging in accommodation transactions in the future.
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