Fugitive Ex-UBS Chief Raoul Weil Arrested in Italy in Client Tax Evasion Case

UBS likely to face fraud charges in forex fixing scandal. Reuters

The former UBS global wealth management chief Raoul Weil was arrested in Italy for allegedly helping wealthy American clients, with $20bn in assets, to evade taxes in US between 2002 and 2007.

While Weil was indicted in the US in 2008 for the allegations, he has been working in Switzerland for seven years. He was most recently promoted to chief executive of Reuss Private Group this year, after joining the firm in 2010 as a consultant.

"There was nothing against him in Switzerland. He was fully transparent and about his situation and there was no reason not to appoint him as chief executive," said the company which works with 2,000 independent financial service providers.

Weil was only arrested in Bologna, Italy after he checked into a hotel and his name appeared on a police list of outstanding international warrants.

Reuss Private Group has 4bn Swiss francs (£2.7bn, €3.2bn, $4.4bn) worth of assets under management and describes itself as a "leading alliance of specialist providers offering a comprehensive range of products and services for professional asset managers, family offices and sophisticated private investors".

Tax Evasion

UBS admitted to aiding tax evasion and paid a $780m penalty in 2009 after which the bank handed over data on 250 accounts held by US citizens and later disclosed information on another 4,450.

Meanwhile, related to the same case, Wegelin admitted to assisting hundreds of US taxpayers in hiding more than $1.2bn in assets from the IRS. It thenclosed its 250-year firm following its guilty plea.

Weil was indicted in 2008 by the US courts but was declared a fugitive in 2009 after an investigation into offshore banking activities for wealthy clients at UBS.

At the time UBS pledged its full co-operation with US authorities but Weil's lawyer dismissed the indictment as "totally unjustified and without factual basis".

The indictment list against Weil accused him and other bankers of helping clients evade taxes between 2002 and 2007.