Former Credit Swiss customer pleads guilty to money hidden from the IRS

(Bloomberg) – A Brazilian-American businessman became the second credit Swiss group AG to plead guilty last week to cover up the multi-million dollar assets of the U.S. Tax Office.

Dan Rotta, wearing beige jumpsuits, entered his plea Monday at the Federal Court of Miami. As part of his guilty plea, the 78-year-old said the Credit Suisse banker knew he was a U.S. citizen but helped him cover up the IRS’s assets.

UBS Group AG now owns Credit Suisse, which pleaded guilty in 2014 to help thousands of Americans evade taxes and pay a $2.6 billion fine. Prosecutors spent years investigating whether Credit Suisse violated the plea agreement because they failed to identify undeclared accounts with the IRS.

“Rotta has a Swiss bank account dating back to 1985,” prosecutor Sean Beaty said at the hearing. “The bank knew he was a U.S. citizen, but allowed him to hide money from the U.S. government and said he was Brazilian and lived in Brazil.”

UBS declined to comment on the case on Monday. On March 10, Gilda Rosenberg admitted that she and her family covered up $90 million with the IRS through undeclared accounts in Switzerland, Israel, Andorra and Panama.

Rota pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to deceive the United States and faced five years in prison. He will be sentenced in June. Rotta’s lawyers did not immediately return to the news of seeking comments after the hearing.

Rotta and Rosenberg’s request came after former President Joe Biden’s administration tried to reach a settlement with UBS. Negotiations stalled before President Donald Trump took office.

Rotta was first charged in March 2024, hiding more than $20 million from the IRS and using two dozen Swiss accounts in a meticulously crafted program spanning 35 years. Rotta has accounts with several Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse and UBS.

At the advice of the two banks, Rotta hired Swiss financial adviser Beda Singenberger, who was accused of hiding $184 million in assets as 60 clients, court documents said. Betty said Rota also used several lawyers who helped him move and prepare false statements.

Rotta was initially charged with conspiracy, tax evasion, filing false tax returns, making false statements and failing to file reports from foreign banks and financial accounts or FBARS. The government lowered him about 20 more charges as part of his plea deal.

After being prosecuted, Rotta said that he was a citizen of the United States, Brazil and Romania and relied on decades of deception. They said he lied to authorities, transferred money between Brazil’s cousins ​​and used his Brazilian passport to avoid disclosure of his U.S. nationality to Swiss banks.

The case is the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Miami) and the 20113 CR-CR-Rotta v. Rotta.

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