Corporate Cash Is Flying Outta Federal Court in Fort Lauderdale

By now, everybody knows about the $8 million Revenge of the Smoker's Widow. But Philip Morris wasn't the only international heavyweight to have a costly day at the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale. Today's New York Times leads with a story about the $780 million settlement struck between Swiss...

By Thomas Francis

February 19, 2009

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By now, everybody knows about the $8 million Revenge of the Smoker's Widow. But Philip Morris wasn't the only international heavyweight to have a costly day at the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale. Today's New York Times leads with a story about the $780 million settlement struck between Swiss banking giant UBS and the federal government, which had been investigating the bank for helping its clients cheat the government out of taxes.

In a striking admission, UBS said that from 2000 through 2007, some of its private bankers and managers had "participated in a scheme to defraud the United States" and the I.R.S. by helping American clients set up and conceal offshore accounts. The scheme involved falsifying or not properly obtaining or filing certain tax forms required of both the bank and its clients.

Bankers: The new Al-Qaeda.

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