UBS tax evasion probe shifts focus to Hong Kong
THE US government’s probe into tax-evasion by clients of UBS moved to Asia yesterday, after court documents revealed how the Swiss bank helped US nationals avoid taxes using a Hong Kong-based company.
Documents filed by Californian UBS client John McCarthy – who last week pleaded guilty to failing to submit an annual report to the Treasury – have unveiled a complex scheme, which could have helped some clients cover up income or hide overseas bank accounts.
Part of that scheme involved channelling funds to a UBS account held in Switzerland in the name of Hong Kong firm COGS Enterprises.
The discovery marks the second time accounts associated with a Hong Kong firm have been turned up by the probe.
The Internal Revenue Service is in the process of trawling through a list of 250 UBS client names that the bank supplied to them earlier this year.