A couple has filed a federal lawsuit against the Swiss financial institution UBS Group AG over claims that account information was improperly disclosed, according to a report by AdvisorHub.
The suit was filed last week in Manhattan federal court by Jonathan and Esther Zuhovitsky. The couple alleges that they faced an intense audit after Esther Zuhovitsky’s account information was turned over to the Internal Revenue Service. They said this data should not have been shared because she was not a United States citizen.
The Zuhovitskys said UBS’s action resulted in the IRS criminal division referring them for prosecution as part of its aggressive enforcement efforts aimed at Swiss bank accounts. Following a settlement with the Justice Department in 2009, UBS furnished authorities with the names of many of its American clients. The Zuhovitskys claimed they should not have been targeted because Esther Zuhovitsky is a citizen of Israel and Austria, but has never lived in the U.S.
Funds from an inheritance that were held in her account were managed by Jonathan Zuhovitsky due to the fact that Esther had dyslexia but he had no rights to them, the couple said. No charges were ever brought against them.
There was no immediate response from a UBS representative who was asked for comment on the lawsuit.
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