Ashvin Desai, a medical device manufacturer from San Jose, California, was sentenced to six months in prison and six months and one day of home confinement for concealing more than $8 million in foreign bank accounts, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.
According to the evidence presented in court, Desai controlled several foreign bank accounts at HSBC in India and Dubai, including accounts held in the name of his wife and adult children. Desai invested the funds in these accounts in certificates of deposit, which earned interest at rates as high as nine percent.
Between 2007 and 2009, Desai paid approximately $17,000 in taxes. However, Desai owed an additional $357,783 in taxes to the IRS on his unreported interest income. Desai’s deposits into his foreign accounts also far exceeded the income he disclosed on his tax returns each year. In 2008, for example, he deposited nearly $1.1 million into foreign accounts while only reporting income of $115,810.91 on his tax return.
The evidence at trial demonstrated the steps Desai took to conceal his family’s foreign accounts from the government. In addition to failing to report his accounts on tax returns and FBARs, Desai also directed the bank not to mail bank statements to his house.
On one occasion, Desai wrote an email in which he asked an HSBC banker: “Why are all the statements coming to Home address? I thought we had a different arrangement.”
Desai was convicted in October 2013 of failing to report his family’s foreign bank accounts to the government on tax returns and FBARs. The jury also found that Desai failed to disclose more than $1.2 million in interest income generated by these accounts between 2007 and 2009.
Desai was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila. The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Trial Attorney Melissa Siskind of the Tax Division.
Related Federal Cases
- ID Theft Ring Scammed Lenders Out of Millions · Florida
- First National Bank of Lindsay Shut Down, Insured Deposits Acquired by First Bank & Trust · Washington
- FDIC Protects All Depositors of Silicon Valley Bank Collapse · California
- FDIC Establishes DINB for Silicon Valley Bank Depositors · Massachusetts
- SVB & Signature Bank Collapse: Taxpayers Spared, Depositors Made Whole · New York
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
🔒 Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
Browse More
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News