Swiss banker, lawyer face U.S. tax charges in probe

A Swiss banker and a lawyer are the latest to face U.S. criminal charges in a wide-ranging international tax evasion investigation. Banker Hansruedi Schumacher and attorney Matthias Rickenbach were charged today with conspiring to defraud the U.S. It wasn't immediately clear if the two Switzerland-based men had been arrested or had hired lawyers. Schumacher is a senior executive at Swiss bank NZB. Prosecutors claim he encouraged U.S. customers at Swiss banking giant UBS AG to transfer assets to NZB to avoid scrutiny. A Swiss-U.S. settlement announced Wednesday calls for UBS to divulge some 4,450 names of American clients suspected of evading taxes. Schumacher and Rickebach are charged with using false documents and sham entities to hide client assets.