Yesterday, Humberto Gomez pled guilty, according to a DOJ Tax press release, here [the link is not yet available; I will post the link when I have it]. The press release is rather cryptic, but here are the key details:
Defendant: Humberto Gomez
Bank: UBS
Entities: Yes (Bullrush Overseas, Ltd.)
High Balance: $1,412,026 (2006 & 2007)
Count of Plea: Tax perjury, Section 7206(1) - one count (but may cover two years, 2006 & 2007)
Tax Loss: $10,478 (2006 & 2007)
Judge: Jose Martinez, SD Florida
The tax loss seems low. The press release says: "For the years 2006 and 2007, the criminal tax loss associated with the Bullrush account at UBS is approximately $10,478." I suspect that there is more to the story. In another cryptic statement, the press release says: "Between August 2006 and December 2007, the defendant allegedly made deposits, including business receipts for Venezuelan corporations, in his Swiss UBS account totaling approximately $1,887,859." The tax loss thus must be the tax on the earnings on the UBS account rather than any tax associated with the deposits into the UBS account. As the press release is worded, that may be an open issue.
Friday, May 4, 2012
4 comments:
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sorry for him, he should have read this blog before being caught !
ReplyDeleteWith only 10K loss if this is how this case is going, then is going forward for minnows whose balance is 100K, 200k, 300K ranges and tax loss is ard this 10K but all legitimate income, may not be a good idea any more? Perhaps either opt out or stay silent completely and pray for statue to expire. Jack what would you say to this?
ReplyDeleteI think there is more to this story than I could find in posting the item. If readers know, please leave comments to flesh out.
DeleteI don't think, however, that it should worry "minnows." Most importantly, an entity interjected to hide the account was involved. I am not in a position to check the spreadsheet, but I think that all of the prosecutions have involved entities. Plus a very large amount of money was involved (not tax loss but the high amount in the account).
There are just too many missing elements to draw any conclusions at this point.
Jack Townsend
"Gomez was accused of maintaining a secret bank account in the British Virgin Islands to avoid paying U.S. taxes on income from companies he owned, according to the charges and a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. Some of the income was from Venezuelan companies, the government said.
ReplyDeleteGomez’s UBS account was in the name of a company called Bullrush Overseas.
According to the charges, Gomez was in the business of selling auto body parts and stamped metal.
He allegedly opened the secret account at UBS in 2004, and it contained as much as $1.4 million between 2004 and 2007."
From Miami herald