Asset Protection

Wealthy U.S. taxpayers, concerned about an Internal Revenue Service crackdown on the use of secret overseas bank accounts as tax havens, are rushing to meet a Thursday deadline to disclose those accounts or face possible criminal prosecution. The concern was triggered this summer when Switzerland's largest bank, caught up in an international tax evasion dispute, said it would disclose the names of more than 4,000 of its U.S. account holders. The decision shattered a long-held belief that Swiss banks would guard the identities of its American customers as carefully as they did their money, and it raised concern that other international tax havens might be next.

Venezuela's state oil company reportedly moved to protect its assets from Exxon Mobil Corp.'s legal reach Monday as experts speculated that the South American energy giant may be suffering a severe cash shortage. Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, instructed its traders to deposit oil receipts with UBS bank in Switzerland, the Reuters news agency reported Monday. The move follows Exxon Mobil's victory last week persuading U.S.

A federal bankruptcy judge on Monday ordered three lawyers and two priests from the local Catholic diocese to explain why they should not be held in contempt for allegedly moving to transfer money as well as other actions that were prohibited while the diocese's bankruptcy case is pending. Judge Louise DeCarl Adler ordered the lawyers and priests to appear in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday to explain their actions.

Iran announced Friday that it had begun pulling its foreign currency accounts out of European banks to protect its assets from possible U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program. Analysts estimated that the amount could be as high as $50 billion, though no actual figure was announced. Iran also called for a reduction in OPEC oil production, raising the possibility that Tehran would use oil in its standoff with the West.

Los Angeles billionaire Haim Saban tried to shield $1.5 billion from taxes by using an offshore tax haven, according to a U.S. Senate panel report Monday. Saban paid for a transaction that created artificial losses, which he claimed offset his profit from selling his interest in the Fox Family Worldwide Inc. network in 2001, according to the 370-page report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

For more than two centuries, the Shakers deftly balanced prayer with pragmatism. God would provide, they were certain. And what God overlooked, they took care of themselves. Thus these pious men and women came to invent such practical devices as the spring-loaded clothespin, the flat-bottom broom and the circular saw. They patented a washing machine in 1858. Their multi-chambered oven from 1878 strongly resembles contemporary restaurant ovens.

For older Californians distressed by the thought of nursing home bills devouring their savings, the words of a Los Angeles attorney may seem astonishing: "We can qualify even a millionaire for Medi-Cal benefits." But as troubled as they may be by such an offer, officials at California's healthcare program for the poor admit it's possible.

The Roman Catholic bishop of Stockton has transferred title to the Cathedral of the Annunciation and 41 other church properties, triggering a court fight over whether people who allege they were abused by priests should be able to claim the land as damages. Hayward, Calif., lawyer Rick Simons accused the diocese Tuesday of "shuffling and hiding assets the way they shuffled and hid molester priests." Attorney Paul Balestracci, who represents the Diocese of Stockton, denied the allegation.

A judge was asked Wednesday to void the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego's transfer of $30 million in property to a separate corporation and stop all future property transfers until lawsuits alleging clergy sexual abuse are settled. Attorney Andrea Leavitt, who represents alleged victims, accused the diocese of "liquefying and dumping assets," knowing that it might have to pay large amounts to settle about 145 abuse claims against it. A spokesman for the diocese was not available for comment.

Cruising Pacific Coast Highway in a Corvette convertible, wearing high heels, metallic eye shadow and leather pants, Lynne Meredith doesn't look much like a threat to the federal tax system. But that's how IRS officials describe her, and once she starts talking, it's easy to understand their concern. Meredith has made millions marketing the gospel of tax avoidance, the IRS says. Her message: You don't have to pay federal income taxes, ever.