Rolf Schnellmann, Tax Fraud Conspiracy, New York 2024

A former Swiss executive has pleaded guilty to tax fraud conspiracy in New York.

Rolf Schnellmann, 61, of Switzerland, pleaded guilty on August 2023 in Italy, to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The scheme, dubbed the ‘Singapore Solution,’ was used to conceal more than $60 million in income and assets held in undeclared, offshore bank accounts and to evade U.S. income taxes.

Schnellmann, who was the former head of Allied Finance Trust AG, a Zurich-based financial services company, used a series of nominee bank accounts in Hong Kong and other locations to transfer funds to newly opened accounts at Privatbank IHAG Zurich AG in the name of a Singapore-based asset-management firm.

As part of the scheme, Schnellmann and his co-conspirators conspired to defraud the IRS, concealing income and assets of high-value U.S. taxpayer-clients with undeclared bank accounts at IHAG.

The U.S. taxpayer-clients paid large fees to IHAG and others to help them conceal their funds and assets and evade taxes.

Schnellmann is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Gregory H. Woods on July 19, 2024, at 10:00 a.m.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams praised the outstanding work of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and thanked the Office of International Affairs, Interpol, Italian law enforcement authorities, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Trieste, and the Italian Ministry of Justice for their assistance in the extradition of the defendant.

This prosecution is being handled by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit and the Tax Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Olga I. Zverovich and Senior Litigation Counsel Nanette Davis of the Tax Division are in charge of the prosecution.

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