Indian bank used to evade US taxes

An Indian-American pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service with five HSBC bankers by hiding his Indian accounts.

Vaibhav Dahake, 44, who became a naturalised US citizen in 2006, faces up to five years in prison, but a plea deal outlines a federal prison sentence ranging from 10 to 18 months, restitution and other penalties. The judge will have the final say at sentencing, scheduled for July 22.

According to a plea agreement signed by Dahake, the tax loss to the IRS fell between $30,000 and $80,000.

Dahake's guilty plea came four days after a US judge in California gave permission to the IRS to serve a so-called John Doe summons on HSBC for information about Americans who may have banked in India to hide accounts from the IRS.

Dahake admitted that from 2001 through 2010 he maintained undeclared bank accounts in India that he failed to report.

After receiving an unsolicited letter in 2001 that advertised bank accounts in India that paid hefty interest, he met with a banker in New York, officials said.

Dahake was told he did not have to submit a Social Security number and that the bank, HSBC Holdings of India, would not inform the IRS, authorities said.

The indictment, filed in January, lists three unnamed US bankers and two in India who are identified as co-conspirators but not defendants in the criminal action.

The full story is available at prokerala.com.