Swiss Banker Loses Bail Bid for Not Showing Up in N.Y. Court

A Swiss banking executive accused of helping U.S. clients cheat on their taxes lost his bid for bail because he didn’t come to court to answer the charges against him.

Stefan Buck, who was Bank Frey & Co.’s head of private banking in Switzerland and an executive board member, was indicted by the U.S. in 2013 for conspiring to help clients hide millions of dollars from the Internal Revenue Service. The U.S. says his alleged crimes date back to 2007.

Buck, who remains in Switzerland, asked for a bail package without having to leave the country, which doesn’t extradite its citizens for tax offenses.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in New York today denied the request because under U.S. law, a fugitive isn’t entitled to bail. The judge said that Buck has known about the charges for 18 months and yet chooses to remain in Switzerland.

“Buck’s strategy to seek a bail hearing without showing up personally in court suggests that he will not appear if his bail application on the terms he dictated is denied,” Marrero said. “Buck is not entitled to receive any potentially favorable rulings from this court if he is unwilling to stand for and face the consequences of any potentially unfavorable ruling.”

Foreign Bankers

Buck is one of three dozen foreign bankers, lawyers and advisers charged by U.S. prosecutors fighting offshore tax evasion. Several pleaded guilty, including Buck’s co-defendant Edgar Paltzer, 58, a Swiss lawyer who is cooperating with prosecutors and returned to Switzerland while on bail. Last month, former UBS AG global wealth-management chief Raoul Weil was acquitted of tax conspiracy charges.

“Mr. Buck looks forward to coming voluntarily to New York to defend this case,” Marc Agnifilo, Buck’s lawyer, said in an e-mail. “We were hoping to have an agreement on bail before his arrival. But we will do that once he’s here.”

Agnifilo argued in November bail should be granted, saying, “where the defendant wishes to leave the ‘safe haven’ of Switzerland to appear in a U.S. court to clear his name, the government, most respectfully, should be open to practical solutions to this laudable result.”

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Cowley and Sarah Paul last month urged Marrero to deny Buck’s request, saying he’s a fugitive, despite his claims to the contrary.

Agnifilo didn’t respond to voice-mail and e-mail messages after regular business hours seeking his comment on the ruling.

The case is U.S. v Paltzer, 13-cr-00282, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at