US prosecutors seek leniency for bank fraudster Gadola

Federal prosecutors in the US are seeking a lenient prison sentence for a former Swiss banker convicted of tax fraud because of his assistance in uncovering other tax evasion cases.

A judge in Miami will sentence former UBS AG banker Renzo Gadola today. He pleaded guilty in 2010 to tax fraud conspiracy and has been working extensively with prosecutors since then.

Prosecutors are asking the judge to sentence Gadola below the 10-month minimum recommended in sentencing guidelines.

They say he helped build cases against former colleagues and bank customers who had secret Swiss accounts.

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

UBS in 2009 agreed to disclose the identities of thousands of US clients and paid a $780m (€573m) fine for tax evasion.