Ubs, Tax Fraud | featured news

The U.S. Justice Department is considering whether to ask a judge to reduce the jail sentence of Bradley Birkenfeld, the key informant in the U.S. tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG, the New York Times said, citing a person briefed on the matter.

U.S. has been seeking data on depositors suspected of using UBS bank accounts to hide cash from IRS.

UBS AG Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel sent a memorandum to the bank's top executives on Thursday saying the bank could not comply with a U.S. government request to disclose the identity of 52,000 secret account holders, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

The government said it would seize the bank’s client data, which U.S. authorities have demanded to settle a tax case.

Banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $780 million and turn over once-secret Swiss banking records to settle allegations it conspired to defraud the U.S. government of taxes owed by thousands of American clients.