Two Los Angeles brothers could be sentenced to federal prison Wednesday for failing to file required paperwork that would have disclosed funds hidden in offshore accounts.
Israel and Ben Birman face up to three and five years, respectively, in federal prison, as well as supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties at their sentencing hearing in downtown Los Angeles.
Israel Birman pleaded guilty in November in Los Angeles federal court to falsifying a tax return to conceal more than $187,000 in interest income earned from accounts held at Bank Leumi in Israel. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to pay a civil penalty of not less than $1.7 million.
His younger brother, Ben, pleaded guilty in August to willfully failing to file a report of foreign bank and financial accounts, which would have disclosed more than $1 million hidden in Bank Leumi accounts.
In 2014, Bank Leumi acknowledged that for at least a decade, it had conspired to help U.S. taxpayers hide their income. The bank paid the U.S. government $270 million.