ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Two client advisers who have worked for Bank Julius Baer were indicted by a New York court this week for helping 180 American clients hide $600 million in Swiss bank accounts that were never declared to the US tax arm, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The indictment refers only to Swiss Bank 1, but Julius Baer, in a statement received by financial media, has said one is a former employee and the other currently works for the bank.
The indictment, U.S. v. Casadei, 11-cr-866, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan), names them as Daniela Casadei and Fabio Frazzetto. It is not clear if either of the two are in the US at the moment. The indictment mentions a number of unnamed colleagues who helped them, according to Reuters.
Julius Baer has been actively involved in Swiss-US tax negotiations, the wealth management bank notes in a statement 12 October, e-mailed to financial media: “The bank is one of a number of Swiss financial institutions supporting the ongoing tax negotiations between the US and Switzerland and is cooperating with the US government investigation.”
The indictment is not a total surprise, says a number of people interviewed by US and UK financial media, since the US government has made it clear that a number of Swiss banks are under review for their possible role in cases of tax fraud by US citizens.
Business Week reports that some of the 30,000 Americans who used the IRS voluntary disclosure programme have been interviewed by the Justice Department as it builds new criminal cases.
Alinghi celebrates its America's Cup win, July 2007
New York, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) – A court in New York will ask the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), home to Alinghi, to show cause why it should not be held in contempt of court, at the request of The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) of San Francisco, California, the GGYC announced 14 July. The GGYC also accused the Swiss sailing club, in its press release, of entering “into a secret agreement with the International Sailing Federation, the organization which will have a central role in selecting match officials and sailing jury.”
This is the fourth time since the last America’s Cup race, in July 2007, that the GGYC is taking the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), notes Alinghi. The SNG, in its reply press release, limits itself to accusing the other club of fighting in the courts rather than on water and saying it continues to wait for the other club to supply the court with required documents. Both groups claim to have court decisions on their side.
- Alinghi iD35 shakedown sail, Cup Julius Baer, Nyon 4 May 2009 (image, Carlo Borlenghi, Alinghi)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – There is a new wrinkle in the latest round of the legal battle between Geneva-based Alinghi, holder of sailing’s America’s Cup, and San Francisco-based Oracle, which has been fighting hard in the courts to change the date and rules for the next race. Alinghi is reported by Sailing World News to have filed charges with the New York Supreme Court against BMW Oracle for hiring a spy.
The papers allegedly refer to a police report where a man named Jean Antoine Bonnaveau states that he took photos for Oracle in the hills above Villeaneuve. The story is reported by Bloomberg in New York, which says that the alleged spying “continues a tradition of subterfuge in the event.”
The two teams are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow 14 May in New York, with Alinghi facing a motion from Oracle for contempt of court, charges to which it filed an opposition 11 May.
Alinghi relaunch, 2008
San Francisco, California, USA and Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Your average non-sailor might be forgiven for thinking America’s Cup is a game of ping-pong rather than arguably the world’s most famous sailing race. The legal battle between the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), home to Alinghi, and US-based Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), home to Oracle, continues, with the GGYC asking a court in New York for a new hearing, set for 15 May. Alinghi is the holder of the America’s Cup and Oracle is the official Challenger. Last week, 24 April, the Tribune de Geneve carried the cheerful headline that Alinghi had agreed to Oracle’s demand for a multi-hull race in 2010. For about an hour it appeared that the bickering might be over and a race could be run.
