Ex-banker gets probation for helping wealthy Americans hide money from IRS

A former senior UBS private banker who helped the U.S. government expand its crackdown on offshore tax evasion was sentenced to five years' probation Friday for advising wealthy Americans on ways to hide their money from U.S. tax authorities.

Renzo Gadola, who worked at giant Swiss bank UBS AG from 1995 to 2008, pleaded guilty in December.

He was arrested in Miami after officials secretly taped him meeting a client at a luxury hotel.

Federal prosecutors had sought a lenient sentence for Gadola because of his assistance in uncovering other tax evasion cases.

They asked for less than the 10-month minimum prison sentence recommended in sentencing guidelines.

The prosecutors said Gadola helped build cases against former colleagues and bank customers who had secret Swiss accounts.

IRS campaign
The case is part of a broad Internal Revenue Service campaign to identify wealthy tax dodgers.

UBS in 2009 agreed to disclose the identities of thousands of U.S. clients and paid a $780 million fine for tax evasion.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

In July, Reuters reported Swiss financial adviser Beda Singenberger, owner of Zurich-based Sinco Treuhand, had been charged with helping more than 60 U.S. taxpayers hide more than $184 million in Swiss bank accounts.

Singenberger also allegedly helped move assets from UBS AG to other Swiss banks to avoid getting caught.

Singenberger was indicted on a charge of conspiring to hide clients' income from the Internal Revenue Service from 1998 to 2009, the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan said at the time.

The indictment came nearly 2 1/2 years after UBS avoided U.S. criminal prosecution by agreeing to pay a $780 million penalty and admitting it helped Americans hide income from the IRS. Criminal charges were formally dropped last October.

If convicted, Singenberger, 57, could face five years in prison plus a fine.