[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

The U.S. investigation into Swiss banks enabling tax evasion came to an end for a former Swiss banker, who pled guilty to fraud on Tuesday.  Almost 2 years after the U.S. government placed him under limited home confinement, Christos Bagios in federal court in Florida pled guilty to 1 count of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government of just over $1 million while employed at UBS AG.

After changing his plea to guilty, Mr. Bagios avoided up to 5 years' jail time and a $250,000 fine.  Instead, Judge Kenneth Marra sentenced the Greek citizen and Swiss resident, 47, to already served, which included 37 days in prison before his confinement.

When Bagios was arrested in New York in January 2011, he was a senior Credit Suisse banker.  He was charged with helping 150 Americans hide up to $500 million from U.S. tax authorities while he worked at UBS.  Bagios, who also worked for Swiss rival Credit Suisse Group AG, was expected to return to his family in Switzerland after cooperating with federal investigators.

For further details, go to [Reuters, 11/6/12].