Third person out of 52,000 Americans pleads guilty in UBS case

On Tuesday Jeffrey Chernick, 70, the Stanfordville, N.Y., owner of a firm that represents Chinese and Hong Kong toymakers, pleaded guilty in a Fort Lauderdale federal court to filing a false tax return that failed to disclose $8 million in offshore assets. Chernick became the third American to plead guilty to tax charges related to an investigation of secret accounts at Swiss banking giant UBS.

According to the prosecutors Chernick faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His plea comes as the US Department of Justice launched a battle against the Swiss largest bank UBS to make it provide names of its 52,000 American customers who concealed their incomes to evade taxation by the US authorities. The bank refused to meet this requirement explaining it as violating of the state bank secrecy legislation.

Chernick singed a statement of facts where he admits that he established a Hong Kong corporation in 1981 and opened offshore accounts in the firm's name to conceal commissions paid by Chinese and Hong Kong firms for toy sales in the U.S. His acknowledgement is believed to increase pressure on UBS and on Americans who are offered to contact the IRS voluntarily under a special program that imposes lower penalties. In case they fail to meet the Sept. 23 deadline they will be exposed to “increased penalties and possible criminal prosecution," said Acting Assistant Attorney General John DiCicco.