U.S. man in Swiss bank probe pleads guilty
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 | 11:06 AM ET
CBC News
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has named the first man to plead guilty in a probe of Americans suspected of avoiding taxes via Swiss bank accounts.
John McCarthy formally pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of failing to file a foreign bank and financial accounts report. He will face up to five years in prison and fines totalling $250,000 US when he is sentenced on Jan. 28.
McCarthy is the first person to be named publicly after the Swiss and U.S. governments reached a deal in August to settle American demands for the identities of suspected tax dodgers.
Swiss banking giant UBS AG has agreed to turn over details of 4,450 Swiss bank accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets to the Internal Revenue Service. The agency is believed to be seeking more than 52,000 names, but won't say how many names will be revealed.
Prosecutors said McCarthy funnelled more than $1 million to a UBS account with the help of a Swiss lawyer and bank officials.
Under a 75-year-old Swiss law, banking secrecy can only be lifted when individuals are deemed to have defrauded tax authorities deliberately, as opposed to failing to declare all assets, a distinction Switzerland and other tax havens make.
With files from The Associated PressShare Tools
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