Agrees to Pay Civil Penalty of Over $1.5 Million

Anton Ginzburg, a former client of the Swiss bank UBS AG, pleaded guilty today at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, to a one-count felony information charging him with concealing his ownership of his Swiss UBS AG bank account from the United States by willfully failing to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). The guilty plea proceedings were held before United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy. Ginzburg faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years’ incarceration for his crime. In the plea agreement he entered today, Ginzburg also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1,552,606.50, which is half the value of his unreported Swiss bank account in 2007, for the willful failure to file the FBAR.

The guilty plea was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, John A. DiCicco, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Charles R. Pine, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, New York.

As described in the information, United States citizens or residents with a financial interest in, or signatory authority over, a foreign financial account worth more than $10,000 in a particular year, must file a FBAR report with the Department of the Treasury disclosing such an account by June 30 of the following year.

“Those who willfully conceal assets overseas undermine the playing field for all taxpayers. American citizens and residents who attempt to conceal their assets overseas will be investigated and prosecuted,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Individuals who engage in such conduct will not only face imprisonment, but significant financial penalties as well.”

IRS Special Agent-in-Charge Pine stated, “Offshore tax enforcement has become a major priority for every part of the IRS, including IRS - Criminal Investigation. It’s a matter of restoring public confidence in our tax system and assuring all Americans are held to the same standard of paying their fair share.”

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul Tuchmann and Trial Attorney Mark Daly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

The Defendants:

ANTON GINZBURG
Age: 51

 

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