By Neil H. Simon
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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By NEIL H. SIMON
WASHINGTON--Republican Rep. Eric I. Cantor recently accepted $10,000 in campaign contributions from the political arm of Swiss bank UBS AG, just as the company was being fined for tax evasion.
The UBS AG political action committee – UBS Americas Fund for Better Government – gave Cantor’s congressional campaign and his Every Republican Is Crucial (ERIC) PAC $5,000 each on Feb. 4 and Feb. 26 respectively.
The Department of Justice announced on Feb. 18 that UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, would pay $780 million in fines and restitution. The bank's continued cooperation with U.S. prosecutors will result in the charges being dropped.
While Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, has been a critic of corporate greed and the lack of accountability in the government’s $787 billion Wall Street bailout program, Cantor’s staff has not yet responded to requests for comment on the contributions.
Critics have called Cantor’s fundraising from the bank hypocritical. A government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called for him to give the contributions to the U.S. Treasury.
“Given the current state of our economy it seems as though members of Congress should be a little more aware of those they are accepting money from,” said Naomi Seligman, deputy director for the watchdog group. Four other lawmakers received between $2,500 and $5,000 each from the UBS PAC.
UBS also gave Cantor’s campaign and PAC $10,000 each in the last election cycle.
Justice documents indicate UBS set up sham Swiss accounts for U.S. clients so they could continue hiding assets from the Internal Revenue Service. The government may have lost $220 million in taxes because of UBS's actions, which involved as many as 52,000 undeclared accounts with about $14.8 billion in assets.
(Contact Neil H. Simon at nsimon@mediageneral.com)
WASHINGTON--Republican Rep. Eric I. Cantor recently accepted $10,000 in campaign contributions from the political arm of Swiss bank UBS AG, just as the company was being fined for tax evasion.
The UBS AG political action committee – UBS Americas Fund for Better Government – gave Cantor’s congressional campaign and his Every Republican Is Crucial (ERIC) PAC $5,000 each on Feb. 4 and Feb. 26 respectively.
The Department of Justice announced on Feb. 18 that UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, would pay $780 million in fines and restitution. The bank's continued cooperation with U.S. prosecutors will result in the charges being dropped.
While Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, has been a critic of corporate greed and the lack of accountability in the government’s $787 billion Wall Street bailout program, Cantor’s staff has not yet responded to requests for comment on the contributions.
Critics have called Cantor’s fundraising from the bank hypocritical. A government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called for him to give the contributions to the U.S. Treasury.
“Given the current state of our economy it seems as though members of Congress should be a little more aware of those they are accepting money from,” said Naomi Seligman, deputy director for the watchdog group. Four other lawmakers received between $2,500 and $5,000 each from the UBS PAC.
UBS also gave Cantor’s campaign and PAC $10,000 each in the last election cycle.
Justice documents indicate UBS set up sham Swiss accounts for U.S. clients so they could continue hiding assets from the Internal Revenue Service. The government may have lost $220 million in taxes because of UBS's actions, which involved as many as 52,000 undeclared accounts with about $14.8 billion in assets.
(Contact Neil H. Simon at nsimon@mediageneral.com)