Press Release
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA AUSA RECOGNIZED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER AT ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY
October 21, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Attorney General Eric Holder recognized 247 department employees for their distinguished public service today at the 57th Annual Attorney General Awards Ceremony. In addition, 39 other individuals outside of the Department were also honored for their work. Held at Constitution Hall, this annual ceremony recognizes both department employees and others for their dedication to carrying out the Department of Justice’s mission. This year, Jeffrey A. Neiman, 32, Assistant U.S. Attorney from the Fort Lauderdale Office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, was part of a team awarded the John Marshall Award for Participation in Litigation. Neiman and his colleagues were recognized for their outstanding work in connection with the UBS investigation and deferred prosecution agreement.
“It is my privilege to honor these recipients for their outstanding service and commitment to our country,” Attorney General Holder said. “Each of these dedicated servants has carried out the important mission of the Department of Justice and has done so with excellence and distinction. Their varied accomplishments have advanced the interests of justice on behalf of the American people, and I’m proud to call them my colleagues.”
U.S. Attorney Sloman stated, “Each day, I am proud of the outstanding work done by the dedicated men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. These public servants sacrifice much for little financial reward. Today, I am particularly pleased to recognize AUSA Neiman for his excellent work in the investigation and resulting deferred prosecution agreement of UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland, in connection with the bank’s long-standing cross-border business. I am very proud of Mr. Neiman’s accomplishment, which not only reflects so well on him, but also mirrors the caliber of our attorneys.”
The prosecutors who received the John Marshall Award for Participation in Litigation are Jeffrey A. Neiman, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida; Kevin M. Downing, Senior Level Trial Attorney from the Department of Justice Tax Division, Office of the Assistant Attorney General; Michael P. Ben'Ary, Trial Attorney, Northern Criminal Enforcement Section; and Frank P. Cihlar, Trial Attorney, Criminal Appeals and Tax Enforcement Policy Section. This team is recognized for their outstanding work in their investigation and resulting deferred prosecution agreement with UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland and one of the largest worldwide.
According to documents filed in various UBS-related cases, UBS bankers traveled to the United States to pitch a tax evasion scheme to conceal the fact that United States bank clients were the owners of accounts held at UBS, thereby evading the Swiss bank’s obligations to report certain income information to the IRS and to evade certain United States withholding tax requirements. In February 2009, UBS, based on an order by the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA), signed an unprecedented deferred prosecution agreement, in which it agreed to provide the United States government with the identities of, and account information for, certain United States customers of UBS’s cross-border business. Under the deferred prosecution agreement, UBS has also agreed to expeditiously exit the business of providing banking services to United States clients with undeclared accounts. As part of the deferred prosecution agreement, UBS has further agreed to pay $780 million in fines, penalties, interest and restitution.
Mr. Neiman is a 2001 graduate of the University of Florida Law School. Upon graduation, he began his career as a federal prosecutor as a Trial Attorney at the Department of Justice’s Tax Division. In January 2008, he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and is currently assigned to the Fort Lauderdale Office.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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