A US judge has declared fugitives a former UBS banker and a Zurich lawyer charged with helping wealthy Americans hide assets from US tax authorities, according to Bloomberg.

Hansruedi Schumacher and Matthias Rickenbach were indicted in August on charges of conspiracy to defraud the US by encouraging wealthy US citizens to switch secret accounts from UBS to Neue Zuercher Bank, a private bank, in a bid to conceal wealth.

Mr Schumacher, a manager who moved from UBS to NZB, and Mr Rickenbach, the lawyer, never responded to the US charges, according to court files.

US District Judge Daniel Hurley yesterday signed an order in West Palm Beach, Florida declaring the two men fugitives from justice and suspending the case against them until they are captured, the news agency said.

In February, UBS paid a $780 million fine to settle criminal charges that it enabled US citizens to evade tax. In August, the Swiss and US governments signed an agreement under which UBS will hand over details on up to 4,450 client account details to the US authorities. The deal was seen as a historic breach on Switzerland’s centuries-old bank secrecy laws.