UBS Grilled Over $350M Tax Evasion Case

Edelman was the half-owner of defense contracting businesses Mina Corp. and Red Star Enterprises that supplied fuel to the U.S. after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. said. The 43-page indictment alleges that Edelman engaged in elaborate efforts to hide his profits from the IRS by using undisclosed foreign bank accounts, false documents and phony statements.

He falsely said his wife, a French citizen, owned the companies, repeating this account to a congressional subcommittee in 2010, the Defense Department, the IRS and the Justice Department, according to prosecutors.

Chalet, London Townhouse

Edelman moved his money to Switzerland, the Bahamas, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, while creating entities in Panama, Belize and the British Virgin Islands to hide his assets, the U.S. charged. Using the names of others, he bought yachts, a Spanish house, an Austrian ski chalet and a London townhouse, according to prosecutors.

Between 2005 and 2008, Edelman held accounts at Credit Suisse. In 2008, the bank told his accountant that because of increased U.S. scrutiny of offshore tax evasion, he had to close his account and move his money or disclose his assets to U.S. authorities, according to the indictment.

Edelman moved his funds to another Swiss bank. Under the plea agreement, Credit Suisse had to disclose all undeclared U.S. accounts closed and transferred from August 2008 to May 2014.

Disclosing those account holders, known as “leaver lists,” was a US requirement for Credit Suisse, several other Swiss banks that faced criminal charges, and 80 Swiss banks that made deals to avoid prosecution.

In his letter, Wyden asked whether Credit Suisse was aware that Edelman was allegedly concealing his accounts from the US and aided him in moving the funds.

In March, a Brazilian-American businessman, Dan Rotta, was indicted for allegedly using Credit Suisse, UBS and other Swiss banks to hide more than $20 million in assets from U.S. tax authorities over 35 years.

Rotta was charged in Miami with hiding assets from the IRS in two dozen secret Swiss accounts between 1985 and 2020. Rotta pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing.

(Credit: Bloomberg)