wmlro.com - Swiss legacy results in US doctor facing jail

Dr. Andrew Silva of Sterling, Va., pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to impede the United States and to making a false statement, the Justice Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced.

Sentencing has been set for May 7, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady. The defendant remains free on a USD50,000 bail pending sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a maximum fine of USD500,000.

According to court documents, in 1997, Silva inherited an undeclared bank account from his mother at the Zurich, Switzerland, branch of one of the world’s largest international banks. The bank is headquartered in England and also has offices in Zurich, Geneva, and the Eastern District of Virginia. The account was held in the name of a sham Liechtenstein trust.

In 1999, Silva met an attorney who managed the account in Zurich, Switzerland. The Zurich attorney advised Silva to keep the account “hush,” to not keep any records relating to the account, and to send coded letters if he wished to meet with the attorney.

Further, the Zurich attorney advised Silva that if he transported or mailed less than USD10,000 in U.S. currency back to the United States, he would not have to declare the funds to the U.S. government upon re-entry to the United States.

According to court documents, in September 2009, Silva was informed that the international bank was closing the Swiss account and that he had until the end of the year to travel to Switzerland to withdraw all funds.

He made two trips to Zurich in October and November 2009 and met the Zurich attorney at his office and a Swiss banker at the private wealth office of the international bank. The Zurich attorney and the Swiss banker refused to wire the money to the United States. The District Attorney says that this was because "it would leave a trail for U.S. law enforcement." Instead, they provided him with USD235,000 in U.S. currency. Of that total, Silva received USD200,000 in two individually wrapped “bricks” of USD100,000 of sequentially numbered, new $100 bills.

According to court documents, with the assistance of the Zurich attorney, Silva mailed 26 packages containing over $200,000 in U.S. currency from Switzerland to the United States to himself and another person.

According to court documents, Silva admitted that on Nov. 23, 2009, upon his return to the United States, he falsely informed a U.S. Customs Inspector at Dulles International Airport that he had travelled to Switzerland to purchase diamonds. Further, he falsely stated to a U.S. Customs Inspector that he had not recently mailed any U.S. currency from Switzerland into the United States.

According to court documents, for the years 1997 through 2008, Silva made and subscribed false U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, Forms 1040, that failed to report on the Schedules B attached to the returns that he had an interest in a financial account in a foreign country. Additionally, Silva failed to report the income he earned on his undeclared Swiss account on his tax returns.

According to court documents, from 1997 through 2008, Andrew Silva failed to file with the Department of the Treasury a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts on Form TD F 90-22.1 (FBAR) reporting his interest in his undeclared Swiss account that had an aggregate value of more than USD10,000 at any time during a particular year.

As part of his plea agreement, Silva agreed to forfeit to the government USD211,200 in U.S. currency that law enforcement officials seized from packages that Silva mailed from Switzerland to Silva’s residence in Sterling, Va.

“We are capable of thwarting offshore banking schemes because of the increased cooperation among ICE, Postal Service, and the IRS,” said Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The tax charges in this case came to light because agents caught Mr. Silva structuring cash to avoid reporting requirements, and that kind of coordination is making it possible for us to discover Americans who conceal their wealth overseas and make them pay for their actions.”

United States citizens and residents have an obligation to report to the Internal Revenue Service on the Schedule B of a U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040, whether that individual had a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a financial account in a foreign country in a particular year by checking “Yes” or “No” in the appropriate box and identifying the country where the account was maintained. United States citizens and residents have an obligation to report all income earned from foreign bank accounts on the tax return.

United States citizens and residents who had a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a financial account in a foreign country with an aggregate value of more than USD10,000 at any time during a particular year were required to file with the Department of the Treasury an FBAR. The FBAR for the applicable year is due by June 30 of the following year.

Individuals who physically transport, mail or ship, or cause to be physically transported, mailed, shipped or received, currency, traveler’s checks, and certain other monetary instruments in an aggregate amount exceeding USD10,000 into the United States are required to file a FinCen Form 105, Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments, with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (the CMIR).

United States law prohibits individuals from structuring mailings of U.S. currency into the United States in amounts less than USD10,000 if the purpose of the structuring was to evade the requirement to file a CMIR.

(edited from US Department of Justice media release)