Yesterday, a U.S. court sentenced Swiss Wegelin & Co. to pay almost $58 million (on top of almost $16 million in forfeitures) for helping Americans evade taxes on $1.2 billion in Swiss accounts. In this historic first, the U.S. indicted a foreign bank and obtained a guilty plea and sentence for facilitating tax evasion. Other banks and financial advisors who have engaged in the same conduct may be subsequent targets of U.S. investigation as the U.S. seeks to stop tax evasion through the use of offshore accounts.
Click here for the press release reported on CNBC.