In yet another showing of force by the United States Department of Justice, a U.S. attorney was sentenced on Tuesday, to just under a year in federal prison for his part in a tax evasion plan of two taxpayers who were recently convicted of filing false income tax returns. The continued prosecution of those who aid taxpayers who are hiding assets overseas clearly shows that the government is cracking down on anyone and everyone involved in offshore tax evasion.
Christopher Rusch, an Attorney from California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government as well as failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). The charges stemmed from Rusch’s participation in a scheme to move his clients’ money to undeclared bank accounts overseas, growing it without reporting the funds and moving it back to the United States to be distributed to the taxpayers. In order to achieve this, Rusch used Swiss bank accounts to store and grow taxpayer money and his Lawyers Trust Account to funnel it back into the U.S. before dispersing it to the clients. Between the two taxpayers involved in the IRS investigation, over 6 million dollars of income went unreported.
Both of the taxpayers involved were sentenced to ten months in prison and ordered to pay fines and penalties. As part of his deal, Rusch will spend ten months in prison and will also serve three years of supervised release once he does leave federal prison.
In a press release from the Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally stated that the government is “getting more and more information all the time about offshore banking activities”, making a clear statement to anyone involved in offshore tax evasion that the IRS and the Department of Justice will soon catch up with you.
If you have assets in a foreign bank account that you haven’t disclosed to the government, it is obvious that you need to act now. Don’t let IRS Criminal Investigation agents dictate your future. The Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program allows you to keep your future in your hands. Under the program, you have to opportunity to avoid jail time in exchange for the payment of back-taxes and fines. Do what you can to keep yourself out of jail before it’s too late. Contact us now.
