Former UBS banker to plead guilty

Bradley Birkenfeld will plead guilty to charges of helping a wealthy U.S. client avoid taxes by hiding funds.

A former UBS banker is scheduled to plead guilty to charges of helping a wealthy U.S. client avoid taxes by hiding funds in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, according to published reports.
Bradley Birkenfeld, a former private-client banker at UBS AG of Zurich, Switzerland, from 2001 to 2006, has scheduled a “change-of-plea” hearing for June 9 in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to press reports.
He was indicted last month along with what authorities have been calling his co-conspirator, Mario Staggl, a trust specialist believed to be in Liechtenstein and considered a fugitive.
The indictment is part of a larger Internal Revenue Service investigation into employees and practices at UBS.
The client for whom Mr. Birkenfeld was acting has been identified by Bloomberg News as billionaire Igor Olenicoff, founder of Olen Properties Corp. of Newport Beach, Calif.
Mr. Olenicoff pleaded guilty to charges of filing false tax returns in December and has been ordered to pay $52 million in back taxes, interest and penalties.
Mr. Birkenfeld has decided to cooperate with tax investigators and is expected to aid the investigation into UBS.