WRAPUP 1-Nine charged in US tax cases; HSBC link-source

* Father and son arrested in New York on Thursday

* Source says duo were clients of HSBC

* Seven ex-UBS clients charged for hiding Swiss accounts

By Kim Dixon and Grant McCool

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - Two clients of HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L) were among nine people charged by U.S. prosecutors with concealing offshore bank accounts, cases potentially roping in a second major bank to a U.S. crackdown on wealthy tax cheats.

The other seven were all former U.S. clients of Switzerland's UBS AG (UBSN.VX), the bank at the center of enforcement efforts over the past year.

The parade of cases, that officials said collectively involved at least $145 million hidden in accounts, coincided with the April 15 deadline for filing tax returns.

"The rich are not different," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement on Thursday. "Multimillionaires with secret Swiss bank accounts have to pay their taxes just like everyone else. It is that simple."

U.S. officials have said they are using reams of data gathered in last year's tax amnesty program to find suspicious patterns that could lead them to banks beyond UBS.

Authorities arrested a father and son, real estate developers Mauricio and Leon Cohen, in New York on Thursday.

In documents filed in the Southern District of Florida, the government alleges the two evaded taxes and failed to account for $45 million. They are also alleged to have failed to pay taxes on the sale of a New York hotel by using shell companies in tax havens.

The government said the Cohens used a large international bank to hide the money. A source with knowledge of the case identified the bank as HSBC, Europe's biggest bank.

The court filing against the Cohens describes the bank as "one of the largest international banks" with global business in Florida, New York and Geneva, Switzerland.

Efforts to obtain a comment from HSBC were not successful. A lawyer for the Cohens could not immediately be reached.

According to an affidavit filed by a government special agent, Mauricio Cohen held accounts through shell entities, which the bank treated as owners for tax purposes even though the "bankers who handled the accounts knew" that Mauricio was the actual owner of the funds.

The government cited a 1994 internal bank memo stating that even though the signatories on the account were Swiss lawyers, "the real beneficiary is Mauricio Cohen, well known to us."

UBS CASES

Two of the seven ex-UBS clients pleaded guilty on Thursday in Manhattan federal court.

The cases are the latest in a series the government has brought against former clients of the Swiss banking giant, after the bank admitted last year that it actively helped U.S. citizens evade taxes overseas.

"For the years 2003 to 2007, I filed a false income tax return knowing that it did not mention a UBS account I controlled or any income I earned in that account," one of the defendants, Jules Robbins, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis.

Robbins, who owned and operated companies that distributed watches, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $20.8 million and faces a possible prison sentence of between six months and 12 months following his guilty plea.

New York investment portfolio manager Federico Hernandez, pleaded guilty to similar charges before U.S. District Judge Denny Chin. He faces a possible prison sentence of between 18 months and 24 months and a civil penalty of $4.4 million.

A U.S. grand jury returned indictments against four other former bank clients, businessmen Ernest Vogliano, Shmuel Sternfeld, Richard Werdiger and a New York woman identified as Sybil Nancy Upham. U.S. prosecutors also charged a disbarred lawyer, Kenneth Heller, who was arrested in Hoboken, New Jersey on Thursday.

Upham pleaded not guilty at her initial court appearance. Her attorney, Elkan Abramowitz, declined to comment.

Heller's attorney Jeffrey Harris said: "They didn't indict him and the only reason they brought this criminal complaint is that every year on April 15 they want to make a big publicity splash."

Lawyers for the others could not immediately be reached.

Although keeping money offshore is not illegal, U.S. taxpayers must report assets held there. For assets over $10,000 there is an additional reporting requirement with the U.S. Treasury.

UBS last year paid $780 million to settle a United States government lawsuit against it in which it admitted it aided Americans in evading taxes. As part of that deal, the bank handed over details on more than 250 accounts.

The Cohen case is United States of America v. Mauricio Cohen Assor and Leon Cohen Levy, Case no. 10-6159-RSR.

The UBS-related cases are in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 10-325, No. 10-326, No. 10-327, No. 10-328, No. 10-00333, No. 10-00334 and No. 10-mag-742. (Reporting by Kim Dixon and Grant McCool; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)