Swiss Accounts, Insider Trading, Mortgages: Compliance

Swiss Accounts, Insider Trading, Mortgages: Compliance

www.bloomberg.com

Prosecutors said Reiss used the services of Beda Singenberger, a Swiss financial adviser who was charged last month with conspiring with more than 60 U.S. taxpayers to hide more than $184 million in offshore accounts.

The Floranova account held assets valued at about $2.6 million as of March 2008, prosecutors said. In November 2008, Reiss transferred the Floranova assets into another undeclared account, prosecutors said.

UBS in 2009 paid $780 million to avoid prosecution on charges that it helped Americans evade taxes and turned over data on 250 secret accounts. It later handed over in

(visit the link for the full news article)

Finish above sentence:

It later handed over information on 4,450 more accounts.

4,449 to go!

A New Jersey cancer researcher admitted to hiding millions of dollars from U.S. tax authorities in accounts at UBS AG (UBSN) and other Swiss banks.

Michael Reiss, 60, of Princeton, pleaded guilty Friday in Manhattan federal court to failing to file reports of foreign bank accounts in 2008 and 2009. Reiss, who faces as long as five years in prison at his sentencing in November, was released on a $200,000 bond.

A Dutch national cancer researcher at Princeton hid a bunch of money in Switzerland under a false account.



How much will he pay in taxes, then?

He will pay a civil penalty of about $1.2 million, his attorney, Paula Junghans, said. Reiss also agreed to pay at least $400,000 in taxes, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Levy said.

He "agreed"? What do they mean, he "agreed"?
If it were a regular Joe or Jane American, there would be no "agreeing". They would pay.
I don't understand why corrupt, cheating foreign nationals who are here with US's permission are allowed to make "agreements" with the IRS.
How do I get in on that?

Reiss, a Dutch national, isn’t a U.S. citizen. He may face deportation after he’s sentenced, U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman said. Junghans declined to comment on the case after Friday’s proceeding.

Huh. Judge declined to comment. Does anyone else think that perhaps these foreign nationals who come here to make billions of dollars should be perhaps FORBIDDEN to trade in US markets?

Maybe the whole stock market thing is just too anonymous. Maybe every transaction should be made public - who sold, who bought, who they know, whot hey met with. But it's a system out of control. There are too many clever cheaters with lots of know-what and they are, apparently, above the law.

Well, they can "agree" to, um, go along with the law.
WHAT?!

To my knowledge, when a person is on foreign soil, they are subject to the laws of the country in which they are physically. For example, in Mexico, it is illegal to carry firearms. If an American gets caught there with a gun, there is virtually NOTHING the US embassy can do for them.

But this Dutch guy can be here and he only has to "agree" to pay taxes on the money he stole.

And the bank that hid the money:

UBS in 2009 paid $780 million to avoid prosecution on charges that it helped Americans evade taxes and turned over data on 250 secret accounts. It later handed over information on 4,450 more accounts.

To avoid prosecution??
Where did that money go?

And where is the "civil penalty" money that this Dutch guy using a Swiss bank to cheat going to go?
He only pays $400,000 in taxes, but $1.2 million in "civil penalties." To whom -- or where -- does that money go?

And this is only the first section of the article. The next section:

Ex-Mariner Energy Director Admits Giving Merger Tip to Son

Clayton Peterson, who was appointed to Mariner’s board in March 2006, said he passed information about the planned transaction in April 2010 to his son. Drew Peterson said he bought shares of Mariner stock based on the tip and passed on the information to another unidentified person who also traded on it.

“I knew that my actions were wrong and I deeply regret my conduct,” Clayton Peterson told U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson. “It has ruined my life and my son’s life and I apologize.”

He apologizes.

and the next:

MetLife Says 30 Jurisdictions Are Auditing Unpaid Benefits

State regulators are intensifying a probe into unpaid benefits after Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said in May that insurers may be keeping at least $1 billion in unclaimed funds.

And there are....

BofA’s ReconTrust Sued Over Washington Foreclosure Actions

and

WaMu Bank Failure Won’t Result in Criminal Charges, U.S. Says

A federal investigation of the bank’s collapse included hundreds of interviews and a review of millions of documents concerning its operations, Durkan and the Justice Department said Aug. 5 in an e-mailed statement.

“The evidence does not meet the exacting standards for criminal charges in connection with the bank’s failure,” according to the statement.

Oh!!.....well, yeah, the "exacting standards" make it okay for them to do this. I see. Meh. Obeekaybee.

Also in this article are Swatch the watch-maker, and Lear Inc who deal in electric and electronic car parts, and JPMorgan and Airline taxes and....well, you all can read. Grab a cup of coffee and a cig, settle in and take a deep breath....

Enjoy your morning meal, America!
Look forward to any remarks ATS might have regarding this long list of collusion, conspiracy, loopholes, and agreements made at the elite top.


ETA: Just have to get this one visible:

Amaranth officials can’t prove two JPMorgan executives’ statements were the reason Citadel officials decided to cancel the bailout effort, Sherwood said in a nine-page ruling Friday.

Can't PROVE it. You can't PROVE it!!

and also to complete the sentence in the first link

www.bloomberg.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

And Bloomberg exists...why?

Bloomberg Government as D.C.'s Daily Racing Form
In the casino that is Washington, every investor and businessman needs a tip sheet.

The burgeoning genre represented by Bloomberg Government exists not because an audience wants to read such journalism without romance but because it must. Like a horseracing fan needs the Daily Racing Form, businesses need a guide to help them game the Washington system, especially in these days of endless quantitative easing and rampant government intervention.

www.slate.com...
Ahh..... Not so that the cheaters get caught and get their due. So that the cheaters can cheat BETTER and FASTER.
So, apparently, the OP article is a warning to businesses, or a "here's how to do it...what they can and can't prove so that you can get richer without getting caught."

Sigh.

Yes serf, you find it wrong when the a person commits insider trading and I am here to tell you that we can, it is legal for us, your masters...

I nsider Trading Is Legal For Members Of Congress

Okay, so, I've just become less ignorant. Thanks for that link.
Now the question is...
what can the general public do about it?

My next thoughts: (and mind you this is stream of consciousness responding)...
1) Run on the banks
2) Stop paying criminal Wall Street rackets
3) Invest in the stock market and do it now....

because it's all been orchestrated anyway. They count on people freaking out and dumping, while they will step in and quietly buy up those cheap stocks...
my husband was drumming his fingers the other day saying exactly that....
Now is the time to BUY. Now is the time to BUY. If I ONLY HAD A JOB I would BUY.

But we can't invest our savings, because we're having to live on it while we're both looking for work.

Gods above, is there anywhere with honestly, scruples, and integrity to live??
Maybe a Buddhist temple high above the Himalayas?

Or a deserted island?

Makes me want to weep. Truly.

It appears increasingly likely that the financial industry has approached or been given a form of 'sovereign immunity' whereas all their misdeeds are adjudicated so as they never have to admit 'guilt' - unless there is a convenient mid-level manager around they can throw under the bus.

I agree that the standard is laughably disingenuous.

If you insist you should not have to pay income taxes, you will be considered a criminal.... and most likely will be prosecuted, tried, and convicted - then jailed.

These people didn't insist they didn't have to pay taxes... they HID their money .... they get to agree on a 'settlement.'

The researcher transgression is most disturbing to me, since I am constantly reminded of the nobility of researchers and their quests to cure diseases and such..... more fairy-tales for the people - brought to you by the banks, corporate entities, and universities.

Are we learning yet?

reply to post by Maxmars


Yikes. Thanks for that, too. I freely admit I'm new at watching the markets and learning about this stuff. Wall Street and big business/banking never interested me much -- seemed part of a culture I would never be privy to (still seems that way).

So, the question remains -- what can we do?
Seriously?
WHAT can we DO about it?

reply to post by Maxmars

thanks for the vid ... and "the list"
tis a real shame to see so many FL reps on it (both sides)
i don't know how to embed the list or i would but here's a direct link ... thelist

I think it's really weird that this gets so little attention here.
This is a huge conspiracy.
oh well.
What do WE do?

I don't think it's that the topic is not attended... I think it's because many of us are sort of numb from the continual sucker punching we get...

Every time we learn something new about the celebrity politicians our media tells us we love so dearly, it's something contrary to the way we were taught things were supposed to be.

This particular story may lead people astray as they consider the story about opportunistic abuse by people with large sums of money.... but whenever I ask people about the possibility of not voting for these people they say... "yes" we should vote them all out ... except for "my" representative who they then describe as a genuine nice person they met or did something for them.

It's like many of us don't "get it." The problem isn't the person, it's the party. Actually the beginning of the problem is the ridiculous idea that there is a difference between one party and another. As if no one ever switched sides ... which we see at least once in every election.

Our political party system is irrevocably dysfunctional, and frankly... in some regards, perhaps even traitorously criminal.

reply to post by Maxmars


So, they've worn us down? To where it's just a big collective "sigh" and we go on with our working lives?

I agree, the public is sorta numb....and not really engaging anymore in the details.
UFO and alien threads get upwards of 200 hits, but these sinister doings get next to nothing.

Max,
do you think there IS anything we, who are concerned, can do to stop it?
My reps weren't on the list, and that's cool....but who do I call? The governor? My reps? The pres?

How do we stop this??

It will eat our citizens alive. And it's totally off the leash.