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South Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Hiding Millions in Swiss Banks
A South Florida businessman has pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return after failing to disclose millions in Swiss bank accounts, incurring significant tax and penalty losses.
Wolfgang Roessel, a 65-year-old U.S. citizen and resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida to filing a false tax return for 2007.
According to court documents, Roessel maintained bank accounts at UBS AG in Switzerland, which he failed to report on his personal income tax returns from 2002 through 2007. He also failed to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) for the same years.
Court records established that Roessel opened a UBS numbered investment account in the nominee name of a foreign entity, Neptune Trust, with an opening balance of approximately $4–5 million in 2002. The account and subaccounts were later transferred into the nominee name of another foreign entity, Cyan United, and traded in U.S. and foreign securities.
Additionally, Roessel held accounts at different times at Bank Wegelin and another Swiss bank (Bank A) into which he deposited foreign proceeds from his business, yet which he neither reported on his tax returns nor on the required FBARs.
The plea agreement includes a tax loss of $312,802.95 for 2002 through 2007, and an FBAR penalty owing to the U.S. Treasury of $5,750,933.99, which is 50 percent of the 2007 unreported foreign bank accounts year-end balance of over $11 million.
Roessel faces a potential maximum prison term of three years and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentencing date has not been set.
Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally and U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer thanked Special Agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Tax Division Trial Attorney Rebecca Perlmutter and Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Katz, who prosecuted the case.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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