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IGOR SELLS HIS BANKERS?

May 14, 2008

Last month we noticed that California billionaire Igor Olenicoff stands to get a laughably light sentence after pleading guilty to a filing false returns in a tax scheme involving $52 million. Now comes news that the bankers who helped the Newport Beach real estate mogul with his scheme have been indicted on federal tax charges. The Wall Street Journal reports:

As part of a widening probe, the U.S. has charged a former UBS AG banker and a Liechtenstein consultant with helping clients avoid taxes by opening secret bank accounts, destroying documents, using Swiss credit cards and filing false tax returns.

One client was billionaire California real-estate developer Igor Olenicoff. Mr. Olenicoff set up a web of secret bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to avoid taxes on $200 million in assets, a person familiar with the U.S. case said. Mr. Olenicoff has been cooperating with investigators in the wake of his December guilty plea to a criminal count of filing a false 2002 U.S. tax return. He was ordered to pay $52 million.

The story also provides a hint on why Mr. Olenicoff may face a light sentence:

The case could lead to other U.S. clients: The indictment says the two financiers -- former UBS private banker Bradley Birkenfeld and Liechtenstein financial adviser Mario Staggl -- courted rich Americans and helped some of them avoid paying taxes.

So Mr. Olenicoff's cooperation might be leading the IRS to other rich tax evaders, as well as their enablers. This could get interesting.

The TaxProf has a big-media roundup and a link to the indictment.

Tags: tax crime.

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