UBS Lawyer in Tax Case Says ‘Witness 119’ Stole Client Money

(Bloomberg) -- A lawyer for UBS Group AG attacked former employees who assisted a probe that led to a record 4.5 billion ($5.3 billion) in a landmark tax case, telling a Paris appeals court that three of the witnesses have been convicted of crimes.

The bank found that one witness who worked at UBS for 10 years stole 750,000 euros from clients, according to lawyer Denis Chemla. The man, known only as “witness 119,” became menacing when the lender lodged a complaint.

“What did 119 tell us? ‘Withdraw your complaint or I’ll speak out,’” Chemla said during closing arguments Wednesday. “We refused to give in and he carried out his threat,” the lawyer said, adding that the man was later convicted of the theft.

UBS is challenging a 3.7 billion-euro fine and a further 800 million euros in damages linked to charges that the Swiss lender helped clients launder funds that should have been declared to French tax officials. On Monday, prosecutors conceded that recent guidance from France’s top court forced them to seek a lower fine on appeal, bringing the total fine and damages sought to 3 billion euros.

Appellate judges said they plan to rule on the appeal on Sept. 27, but will also issue an intermediary ruling on constitutional issues in June.

Chemla also took a swipe at former UBS bankers Bradley Birkenfeld and Pierre Gerbier-Condamin.

Birkenfeld, a U.S. prosecution witness who served time in prison in an American tax case, “doesn’t know anything about France,” the lawyer claimed. As to Gerbier-Condamin, Chemla said he was fired by UBS after less than a year in the Geneva office for abusively using his work credit card to the tune of 45,000 euros.

Read more: UBS Lawyer Says Ex-Banker Nearly Punched Him in French ProbeThe arguments appeared to miss the mark. Presiding Judge Francois Reygrobellet pointed out that concerns about the trustworthiness of witnesses “had been mentioned many times during the first-instance trial.”

Hervé Temime, a lawyer who joined UBS’s legal team for the appeal, attacked the data used by French prosecutors to seek a 2 billion-euro fine.

The prosecution is building on the tax paid by nearly 17,000 French clients who belatedly declared wealth hidden in Swiss UBS accounts. But Temime said it’s “strictly impossible” to determine with certainty -- as would be required -- the amount of tax avoided.

“It’s not because it’s a Swiss bank that we have less rights than anyone else, that we should be treated like scum,” the lawyer said.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.