A trio of brothers hid their offshore bank accounts worth millions for over a decade, and the long arm of the law has finally caught up to them. The IRS is taking much stronger measures to seek out hidden foreign bank accounts and tax evasion. Here's more of the story, according the Department of Justice press release:
Dan Farhad Kalili, 55, a resident of Irvine, California, together with his brother, David Ramin Kalili, 52, and his brother-in-law, David Shahrokh Azarian, 67, residents of Newport Coast, California, admitted that they willfully failed to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding secret bank accounts in Switzerland and in Israel that each respectively maintained and controlled, many for well over a decade. These secret accounts held assets that reached into the millions of dollars.
“The days of being able to safely hide income and assets offshore and evade U.S. tax have come to an end,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo. “The United States and foreign jurisdictions are sharing information and working together to ensure that citizens around the world are paying their fair share. The guilty pleas entered today are yet another example of what awaits U.S. taxpayers who continue to flout the law.”
“David and Dan Kalili and David Azarian disregarded their legal responsibility to file the required report of foreign bank accounts and report all their income and interest,” said Chief Richard Weber of IRS Criminal Investigation. “Regardless of where the money is hidden around the world, IRS-CI will follow the sophisticated financial transactions and ensure everyone is held accountable for the taxes they are required to pay.”
For each year from 2006 through 2009, Dan Kalili, David Kalili, and Azarian, as U.S. citizens, were required, but willfully failed, to report their ownership and control over foreign bank accounts through the timely filing of FBARs with the IRS disclosing their signatory or other authority over the various undeclared accounts held at UBS, Credit Suisse, Israeli Bank A, and Bank Leumi, each having an aggregate value of more than $10,000 during each of these years.
U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford of the Central District of California scheduled sentencing for April 24. Dan Kalili, David Kalili, and Azarian each face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. In addition, each defendant agreed to pay a civil penalty for willfully failing to file FBARs. Dan Kalili agreed to pay a civil penalty of $2,674,329, David Kalili agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1,325,121 and Azarian agreed to pay a civil penalty of $951,607.
Read the full account here.
If you have not filed a required Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR), a Chicago or Cleveland-based tax attorney at Robert J. Fedor, Esq., LLC, experienced in resolving FBAR-related concerns nationwide can begin the process of securing a non-prosecution agreement and filing required documents. Learn more about reporting foreign assets by clicking below.
