BERN: At least 21 Swiss bankers are under US indictment for helping Americans to stash money in offshore banks to avoid taxes.
Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS employee, who received a $108 million reward for his assistance, has since been released from custody but remains on probation and is prohibited from leaving the country for Europe, where he wants to return to get on with his life. He filed a request late last year to have that probation modified (discontinued) sooner than its scheduled end in November, according to CNBC.
As for the bankers and lawyers implicated in the scandal, they’re holded up in Switzerland over fears that leaving the country will expose them to extradition back to the U.S..
About 50,000 Americans have come forward to admit stashing money in offshore accounts to avoid taxes, but U.S. authorities have claimed that a further $2 trillion is hiding undocumented in Swiss accounts.
