Harriet Davies
Editor - Family Wealth Report
2 August 2012
Daily News Analysis
Sean Roberts and Nadia Roberts of Tehachapi, California, who last year pleaded guilty to the charge of filing a false tax return related to undisclosed offshore bank accounts, have been sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in prison.
In July 2011, the pair agreed to pay restitution of $709,675. They will also pay over $2.5 million to resolve their civil liability with the IRS for failing to file the required reports of Foreign Bank and Account Reports.
The pair filed false individual US income tax returns for 2004 through 2008, failing to report an interest in or signatory authority over an account in Switzerland at UBS, which was later transferred to the Swiss subsidiary of a Liechtenstein bank. They also didn’t report “several other accounts in the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, New Zealand and South Africa,” the Department of Justice said.
According to the authorities, the Roberts pair transferred funds out of UBS after learning the Swiss bank was under investigation by US authorities, as they wanted to keep the account secret.
In February 2009, UBS entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, admitting it helped US taxpayers hide accounts from the IRS. As part of this, it passed identities and account information for certain US customers of its cross-border business, including that pertaining to this case, the DoJ said.
