| Corruption crackdown: Ex-head
of state in plea bargain deal
From IKE NNAMDI, The Sun Reporter New York
Thursay, November 19, 2009
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A dozen Nigerians including a former military head of state
are among more than 15,000 wealthy individuals who have disclosed
billions in offshore bank accounts in 70 countries under a voluntary
American government program.
Under the deal the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will
allow them avoid criminal prosecution as part of an agreement
with Swiss authorities, which has cracked open the once
secretive financial system.
“Flood of people came forward in the last days before the
amnesty program expired October15,” IRS Commissioner Doug
Shulman said.
The final total far surpasses the number who disclose offshore accounts
in a typical year (about 100) and comes amid a broad U.S.
crackdown on international tax evasion at Swiss bank UBS AG and
other institutions.
“To put it simply, this is a historic milestone for the nation’s
hardworking taxpayers,” Shulman said.
The total in taxes, interest and penalties collected from those
in the voluntary disclosure program will be in the “billions
of dollars,” Shulman said.
The disclosures involved accounts on every continent but Antarctica.
Officials said taxpayers flocked to the amnesty program after the
U.S. reached an agreement in August with the Swiss government and
UBS to obtain names of thousands of U.S. taxpayers believed
to be hiding assets in secret bank accounts.
Earlier this year, UBS paid a $780 million penalty under a deferred
prosecution agreement filed in a Florida federal court that included
disclosure of an additional 150 names, even of those people have
been charged criminally, with at least two getting sentenced to
prison term.
Shulman said the combination of the UBS disclosures and the amnesty
program have fundamentally changed the offshore tax landscape, particularly
in Switzerland where bank secrecy was the tradition for centuries.
“It shows we are serious about piercing the veil of bank secrecy,”
he said. “The whole game has changed.” he added.
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