Connecticut to scrutinize UBS clients on taxes

BOSTON (Reuters) - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is investigating whether any state residents were among the thousands of U.S. customers of Swiss bank UBS AG who may have evaded income taxes.

"UBS is naming names of tax evaders, and we have reason to believe Connecticut citizens are among them," Blumenthal said on Thursday. "We will vigorously pursue them for unpaid taxes, including anyone who comes forward under the federal tax amnesty program."

He said he did not know how much revenue Connecticut may have lost to alleged tax evaders.

This month, U.S. authorities and UBS signed a pact under which the bank agreed to reveal the names of about 4,450 wealthy American clients to U.S. tax investigators.

The dispute between the U.S. and the bank has threatened Swiss traditions of banking secrecy.

(Reporting by Scott Malone, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)