Indictments possible in UBS inquiry: report

(Reuters) - A U.S. tax investigation into UBS AG (UBSN.VX) is concentrating on senior and midlevel executives and bankers, and could result in one or more indictments, the New York Times said, citing people briefed on the matter.

Investigators are sifting through more than 70 names and related account details of American clients provided by UBS over the last few months to the Justice Department, which has passed the details to the Internal Revenue Service for further scrutiny, the paper said.

The Justice Department and the IRS plan to build both civil and criminal tax-evasion cases against some of the clients, the people told the paper.

The U.S. tax investigation risks compounding damage to UBS's reputation at a time it has been forced to make bigger writedowns than any other European bank in the credit crisis.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating UBS over offshore services provided to U.S. clients from 2000 to 2007 to find out whether UBS helped wealthy Americans dodge taxes. The Swiss bank was singled out by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama as one of the banks who helped "tax cheats." It decided earlier this year to stop offering offshore Swiss bank accounts to U.S. citizens.

UBS, the IRS and Justice Department could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore)