May 30, 2014 — Swisspartners Investment Network AG, an asset management firm in Switzerland, and three of its wholly-owned subsidiaries have consented to pay $4. 4 million to resolve the United States’ investigation of the Swisspartners’ Group’s possible role in U.S. taxpayers’ tax fraud. From the settlement, $3. 5 million will be forfeited to the United States — the amount that the Swisspartners Group made by helping U. S. taxpayers to use undeclared foreign bank accounts to hide their wealth from the IRS. In addition, $900,000 will be paid in restitution to the IRS — the amount of taxes that the IRS should have received from U. S. taxpayers relying on the Swisspartners Group’s help to evade payment of income taxes.
Swisspartners Group Cooperated With U. S. in Off-Shore Tax Evasion Investigation By Self-Reporting And Producing Voluntarily 110 Client Files
The Swisspartners Group admitted that from 2001 to 2011, it helped a number of U. S. taxpayers to avoid paying their taxes by hiding funds in undeclared foreign bank accounts. Further, the Swisspartners Group assisted U. S. clients in their concealment of assets by setting up phony foundations and sham entities to act as nominal account holders, by taking out insurance policies in the names of individuals who were purportedly non-U. S. nationals, by helping to move huge amounts of cash into the U. S. for the benefit of U. S. clients and by orchestrating bulk cash deposits at Swiss banks on behalf of the Swisspartners Group’s U. S. clients.
The Swisspartners Group did much after the fact to curry favor with the U. S. government, reports the Justice Department. It escaped criminal charges by self-reporting its misconduct before it was under investigation. In addition, the Swisspartners Group voluntary handed over 110 client files pertaining to U. S. clients whose assets it helped to hide from the IRS.
Waters & Kraus: Helping Tax Fraud Whistleblowers
Under the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, the IRS Whistleblower Office was established to give whistleblowers a way to notify the government about tax evasion when it’s discovered. The office is authorized to pay tipsters 15 to 30 percent of any amount collected based on the tip.
Whistleblowers in tax fraud cases usually hire a lawyer to locate tax law and accounting experts and advance their expenses, to prepare IRS disclosure forms and to coordinate with the IRS and the experts. With a nationwide presence and extensive experience in qui tam litigation, Waters & Kraus provides whistleblowers in tax evasion cases with assured legal representation. To have a tax fraud whistleblower attorney review your potential case, email us or call 855. 784. 0268.
