California Man Admits In Court Not Disclosing Over $1Mln In Israeli Bank - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2018) California resident Ben Zion Birman has pleaded guilty to not filing disclosure forms for having more than $1 million in Israeli bank accounts, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.

"A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty today in US District Court for the Central District of California to willfully failing to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)," the release said on Monday.

The Justice Department explained that Birman maintained his offshore accounts in Israel at Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. from 2006 to 2011 and had a full knowledge that disclosure forms should be filed in the United States.

Yet, Birman told the financial institution in Israel not to send any mail to his US address and gained access to his offshore money through the system called a back-to-back loans whereby firms located in different states can borrow funds from each other in each other's Currency.

Bank Leumi entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in December 2014 and paid the United States $170 million penalty, the release said.

If convicted, Birman is facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison as well as financial penalties. Sentencing has been set for December, the release said.