Igor Olenicoff (born 1942) is an American billionaire and real estate developer. He has been convicted of tax evasion resulting from the use of offshore companies and Swiss banks to hide his financial assets.
Video Igor Olenicoff
Early life and education
Olenicoff was born in Moscow in 1942. After the war, his family became a tsar, escaping from the Soviet Union to Iran where he was educated by missionaries. In 1957, his family emigrated to the United States. In the US, his father, Michael, an engineer, works as a janitor, and his mother, Zina, works as a housekeeper. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in corporate finance and mathematics as well as M.B.A.
Maps Igor Olenicoff
Olen Properties
After school, he worked as a consultant and corporate executive. In 1973, he bought a duplex of 16 units with his newly established Olen Properties company. Since then, he has developed the company and now has more than 6.4 million square feet of office space and nearly 12,000 residential units in Las Vegas, Arizona, California, and Florida.
In 2006, Forbes Magazine estimated its wealth of $ 1.6 billion, based on sole proprietorship of Olen Properties. However, Olenicoff told the magazine that he did not own a company, claiming that the company was owned by a company founded by a foreign company since 1980. The parents of Olen offshore companies were first headquartered in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas and Denmark.
According to Forbes, the IRS is investigating Olenicoff for tax evasion. The IRS believes that Olenicoff is the sole owner of Olen and uses Bahamas-domicled Sovereign Bancas Ltd. as an offshore vehicle to hide assets from the IRS and its creditors to avoid taxes. Olenicoff denied he had Sovereign, claiming that it was a Russian parastal investment vehicle founded by Boris Yeltsin, and that it only lends money to Olen. The IRS struck Olenicoff with $ 77 million in taxes and fines back in 1996 and 1997 and is investigating him and Sovereign for fiscal years 2002 and 2003.
He later revealed that Olenicoff was listed on a signature card held by Barclays Bank (Bahamas) as chairman of Sovereign Bancorp and as president of National Depository Corporation, Ltd. In 2007, the IRS reported that it also maintains accounts for these two entities. in the UK operations of Solomon Smith Barney, as well as controlled accounts for other offshore companies in Canada and Liechtenstein where money from Olen Properties shifts overseas to avoid taxes.
Tax evasion
Olenicoff is entangled in the UBS scandal, in which the Swiss private bank is revealed to have helped Americans avoid billions of dollars in taxes paid to the US government. Olenicoff was recruited to UBS from Barclays Bank by Brad Birkenfeld, who then blew the whistle at UBS in conspiracy with tax evasion by wealthy Americans. Olenicoff became UBS client in 2001, and transferred $ 200 million to the bank using a credit card provided by Birkenfeld.
In December 2007, Olenicoff pleaded guilty to one count of false tax filing for 2002. He acknowledged tax evasion and misled the IRS about his foreign accounts in the Bahamas, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the UK. As part of his plea bargain, Olenicoff paid a $ 52 million fine and agreed to repatriate his foreign funding to the United States.
In his verdict on April 14, 2008, Olenicoff blamed the situation for poor financial advice from accountants, bankers and lawyers, and his own carelessness, claiming that never intended to deceive the government. In part, the federal government opposes his prison sentence because he has no prior conviction and his crime does not hurt anyone financially.
The punishment guidelines call for up to three years' imprisonment, which usually results in a six-month sentence, but federal prosecutors advise against sending Olenicoff to jail. US dispatch officers sent for Olenicoff received a one-year sentence on probation, while a prosecutor's memorandum recommended a three-year probation. While prosecutors acknowledge that Olenicoff has worked with the government on the terms of his bargaining power, he has illegally used offshore banks to evade taxes since at least 1992. "US Attorney Assistant Brett Sagel believes that a shorter trial period will allow billionaires to quickly repatriate its assets, which are currently outside the reach of the IRS.
US District Court Judge Cormac Carney sentenced Olenicoff to two years in probation and 120 hours of community service. The government does not ask for community services. Carney also fined Olenicoff $ 3,500 and levied a $ 100 fee on criminals. He sentenced him to two years probation and 120 hours of community service. The judge determined that community service should be separate from Olenicoff's charitable activities.
Olenicoff filed suit against UBS and Birkenfeld in 2008, seeking a loss of up to $ 1.7 billion. Olenicoff alleged that UBS and Birkenfeld were involved in fraud and conspiracy by giving him bad advice, that is, he could avoid paying US taxes by transferring his assets to a Swiss bank. The American tax law allows citizens to have bank accounts abroad, but they are required to file a W9 Tax Form that discloses accounts as part of their tax return.
The lawsuit was dismissed in April 2012, with US District Judge Andrew Guilford acting on a motion by UBS and Birkenfeld to rescind the lawsuit on the grounds that Olenicoff as a US taxpayer has an obligation to know his tax obligations. In his written opinion, Judge Guilford said that Olenicoff because he had pleaded guilty to tax evasion, "It is directly inconsistent for him now to claim that he is unwittingly dependent on UBS advice."
In August 2012, UBS sued Olenicoff under California law for a malicious prosecution. The lawsuit cited Guilford's decision. The complaint claims, "In order to pursue his fraudulent claim, he reneged on the sworn statement he made in a criminal case recognizing his own active fraud, and instead claimed that he did not actually realize that he had lied about his tax return, from the story being perpetrated for the purpose of pursuing fraudulent claims of fraud against UBS. "
UBS requested "special damages" in excess of $ 3 million plus attorneys' fees. Olenicoff publicly responded to the lawsuit by claiming "this is a kind of publicity stunt to cool other people's plans to sue UBS."
Art Forgeries
In June 2014, Olenicoff and his real estate company, Olen Properties Corp., were found guilty of copyright infringement by a federal jury and ordered to pay $ 450,000 in damages to the sculptor Don Wakefield, who created abstract stone sculptures. In 2004, artists sent emails to Southern California real estate companies, including Olenicoff real estate company Olen Properties, showing images of his amonya-like "Untitled" statue to see if they were interested in purchasing his works. In 2008, Wakefield discovered a similar statue in Newport Beach, the California office of Olen Properties which he originally thought was originally from his "Untitled" work. In 2010, he found three more copies of his work on a property in Irvine, California owned by Olen Properties. The company said the works, which are part of the Percent scheme for the Arts to promote public art, are the work of Chinese sculptor Zhou Hong.
In 2011, Olenicoff claimed that the statue and three other sculptures on display at other Olen sites had been purchased in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics. Olenicoff also said he has one of the statues modified with the addition of a stainless steel form that represents a teardrop. At that time, he refused to confirm or deny whether the sculpture was a copy of Wakefield's original work. The Wakefield statue will cost $ 160,000 while a Beijing-made imitation will cost around $ 35,000 each.
Olenicoff was also sued by sculptor John Raimondi, who was contacted by a real estate tycoon to create a version of his two sculptures that are still there as part of an art-cent mandate. If Olenicoff has followed up with a job assignment, Raimondi will make $ 100,000 to $ 250,000. Raimondi had supplied Olenicoff with detailed pictures and photographs of the proposed works, which were later canceled by the Olenicof. In 2010, Raimondi was told that the statues that had originally been handed over to the town of Brea, California as his works are now credited to Chinese artists. Raimondi never allowed the creation or display of the statue he had discussed with Olenicoff.
The federal jury in June 2014 gave Wakefield $ 450,000 in damages, while another federal jury in December 2014 awarded Raimondi $ 640,000 in damages. Olenicoff has filed a motion that the damage in the Wakefield case was set aside.
"Olenicoff Defense"
Lawyers for billionaire H. Ty Warner, creator of Beanie Babies, successfully used a defense based on the government's treatment of Olenicoff to save Warner from imprisonment. Warner has been convicted of illegally hiding $ 106 million in offshore accounts, which was revealed as he tried to take advantage of the IRS tax pardons offered after UBS 2008-10 tax scandal. The lawyers cited Olenicoff for dropping off with imprisonment when he was sentenced for tax evasion through offshore accounts.
Warner's pretrial report calling for imprisonment says his foreign accounts are the largest ever found. In fact, the lawyer pointed out, Olenicoff has illegally stolen $ 240 million offshore. Olenicoff's defense succeeded. On January 14, 2014, District Court Judge Charles P. Kocoras sentenced Warner to two years probation and 500 hours of community service. The judge rejected the claimant's recommendation for one year and one-day prison time to act as a deterrent to other tax fraud. Olenicoff, who also received a two-year probation and community service, pleaded guilty to filing for a false tax return, a crime. Warner pleaded guilty to more serious tax evasion charges.
Since Olenicoff was sentenced in 2008, 63% of those accused in the offshore tax evasion case have not been sentenced to prison.
Personal life
Olenicoff is married to Jeanne M. Patterson, a native of Los Angeles. They have two children: Andrei and Natalia. Andrei was killed in a car accident in 2005. Andrei suffered from retinitis pigmentosa and Olenicoffs founded the Andrei Olenicoff Memorial Foundation in his honor. In December 2010, Igor Olenicoff was listed as president of the Newport Beach, CA-based private foundation. This gives $ 37,890 in grants and has assets of $ 208,859.
The main donors of the Andrei Olenicoff Memorial Foundation are the Foundation Against Blindness, Dog Guide for the Blind, and Makapo Aquatics, a rower team with vision impairment. One of their Foundation's first prizes is given to Russian orphans who need prosthetic devices and corrective surgery. Her sister opened a restaurant in Irvine, California, called Andrei's Conscious Cuisine and Cocktails. Natalia is married to Derek Ostensen.
References
External links
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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