Gilda Rosenberg, a Florida woman and dual U.S. and Colombian citizen from Golden Beach, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by concealing over $90 million in undeclared foreign accounts, filing false tax returns, and evading taxes, according to the Justice Department.
Court documents reveal that Rosenberg, along with her relatives, engaged in the scheme from 2010 to 2022, hiding assets in offshore accounts located in Andorra, Israel, Panama, and Switzerland. The family’s use of offshore accounts dates back to the 1970s, and by the late 1990s, Rosenberg was aware that they had not disclosed these accounts or paid taxes on the income they generated.
In the early 2000s, the family consolidated their assets at Credit Suisse. They informed the bank employees of their intention to evade U.S. authorities. Following the closure of these accounts in 2013, the assets were moved to other banks, including Bank Leumi in Israel and Union Bancaire Privée in Switzerland.
Rosenberg attempted to conceal her U.S. citizenship by falsely claiming to be a Colombian resident. She and her family failed to file the required Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs) and submitted false tax returns to further hide their illicit activities. Additionally, in 2017, they fabricated loan and investment documents in a bid to conceal their assets from U.S. authorities.
From 2010 to 2017, Rosenberg omitted $5.5 million in income from her tax returns, resulting in a $1.9 million loss to the U.S. government.
Rosenberg is set to be sentenced on May 30, where she faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. This case highlights the significant penalties that can result from attempting to evade taxes through the concealment of foreign assets and false tax filings.
