Tag Archive for Offshore bank accounts

Florida Man Sentenced For Evading Taxes On Millions In Secret Offshore Bank Accounts

Florida Man Sentenced For Evading Taxes On Millions In Secret Offshore Bank Accounts

A resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for not reporting his foreign financial accounts from 2006 through 2015 and for willfully evading the assessment of millions in taxes from 2007 through 2014.

According to court documents, from 2003 through 2009, Dusko Bruer owned and operated a company that bought U.S.-made agricultural machinery and parts and sold them throughout the world. Bruer’s company had numerous employees and reaped millions of dollars in annual gross receipts. Despite its success, Bruer’s company did not file employment or corporate tax returns, nor did the company pay employment or income taxes. Furthermore, from 2003 forward, the company never paid Bruer a salary. Instead, Bruer directed that millions of dollars from the company’s bank accounts be used to pay his personal expenses, to make foreign investments, and to transfer funds to his family members.

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U.S. Cracks Israeli Bank Leumi – Bank Admits to Assisting U.S. Taxpayers in Hiding Assets in Offshore Bank Accounts

Americans with Israeli bank or other financial accounts could face a tough tax season in 2015 if they do not come forward and disclose their assets to the IRS. Israeli banks have come under increased scrutiny by the IRS in regards to disclosing the accounts of their American clients. In particular, three Israeli banks- Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi and Mizrahi Tefahot- have been under investigation by the Department of Justice.

The first Israeli bank to now bow to the United States is Bank Leumi. A deferred prosecution agreement between the Bank Leumi Group and the U.S. Department of Justice was filed today in the Central District of California that defers prosecution on a criminal information charging the bank with conspiracy to aid and assist in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns and other documents to the Internal Revenue Service. This is the same type Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • FBAR • OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

How To Avoid Becoming The Next “Cooked Goose” Gracing The IRS’s Offshore Tax Evasion Table This Thanksgiving – Part III

III. Shorthand Formula for a Criminal Offshore Bank Account Tax Case

At the end of the day, an offshore account tax fraud case comes down to proving two key elements:

(1) A substantial tax deficiency, and

(2) Badges of fraud (i.e., acts of concealment concerning the non-reporting of the offshore bank account).

The larger the tax deficiency and the more badges of fraud it can prove, the stronger the government’s case becomes. Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

How To Avoid Becoming The Next “Cooked Goose” Gracing The IRS’s Offshore Tax Evasion Table This Thanksgiving – Part II

II. Essential Elements of Tax Crimes

a. Willfulness

One small word is all that distinguishes a civil tax matter from a criminal tax matter. That pestilent word is called “willfulness.” It is the cornerstone to any criminal tax matter.

In the criminal setting, the government carries the heavy burden of proving – beyond a reasonable doubt – that the taxpayer acted willfully. Willfulness is defined as an “intentional violation of a known legal duty.”

i. Proving Willfulness For Purposes of the Crime of Failure to File a FBAR Read More

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How To Avoid Becoming The Next “Cooked Goose” Gracing The IRS’s Offshore Tax Evasion Table This Thanksgiving – Part I

If your name was mentioned in the same sentence as Raoul Weil, Carl Zwerner, or Ty Warner, you can rest assured that you haven’t been nominated for an academy award or a Pulitzer Prize. Nor did you win the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Award. Instead, you’d have joined a disgraced group of taxpayers who have had the misfortune of being targeted by the U.S. government in their crusade to stamp out offshore tax evasion.

In stark comparison is John Doe, a conflicted taxpayer who recently entered the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). Neighbors and friends who run into John are a captive audience for him as he wallows in his self-pity. John regrets the decision to enter OVDP and tells his tale of woe to anyone who will listen: “I don’t know what I’m doing in this program. I know 500 people with foreign accounts like mine, and they’re not coming Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes