The founder of a Russian online bank was required to pay $508 million in tax, interest, and a $100 million fraud penalty for large stock gains following taking his company public on the London Stock Exchange. Three days after the IPO, which netted $1.1 billion, he renounced his U.S. citizenship. He did not report his assets on his expatriation forms, which require expats with a net worth of $2 million or more to report their assets and pay tax; he reported a net worth of $300,000. He also filed a false tax return, leading to his arrest and extradition. Had he paid the tax owed after the IPO ($248,525,339), his bill would have been less than half of what he paid with his plea agreement. (www.justice.gov/opa/pr/founder-russian-bank-pleads-guilty-tax-fraud)
CPAs, get four hours of fraud CPE with our 2021 Fundamentals of Fraud Prevention & Detection On-Demand Webinar. Click here for more information.