B. (Haarlem, 1959), who partly lives in Italy, has a decent career on paper. As a tax specialist, he works for large accounting firms and assists stars such as Linda de Mol. But over the years he became very creative with the accounting of his clientele, according to the American justice department. Under his leadership, one hundred million dollars would have been hidden from the tax authorities. He was extradited to the US on Sunday.
The New York prosecutor states that B. set up ‘sophisticated international tax evasion schemes’ for his clients. In these arrangements, the income of well-known Dutch DJs such as Tiësto and Afrojack, who lived in the United States, was channeled through a company in Cyprus. Income tax was paid on that island, but the American tax authorities also want to see payments on that income.
Conspiracy against tax authorities
After American justice issued an extradition request, B. has been in an Italian prison for the past few months. There he waited for his extradition, which took place last Sunday. After his arrival in the US, the tax specialist was arraigned in the court of the city of White Plains in the state of New York.
The public prosecutor believes that B.’s tax structures amount to a ‘conspiracy against the American state’. The conspiracy is said to be intended to defraud the American tax authorities. In addition, the Dutchman is accused of helping to incorrectly complete five tax returns.
Preventing double taxation
B. himself says that he has done nothing wrong. With the tax constructions he devised, he wanted to prevent double taxation on his clients’ income, he previously told the F.D. The artists and models he worked for did assignments in many different countries, which meant they could become entangled in different tax laws.
B. faces five years in prison for conspiracy, and three years in prison for each count of helping to incorrectly complete a tax return. However, according to B.’s lawyer, it could take at least two years before the case comes to trial.
Moreover, the Dutch justice system has also been targeting the tax specialist for years; the case filed against B. in the Netherlands, also due to alleged tax avoidance, is still ongoing.
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Shrewdly, grain trader Cargill again finds a route to avoid taxes, via the Netherlands
Cargill, one of the largest and most powerful food and raw materials traders in the world, can do something that new laws and regulations were supposed to make impossible: avoid taxes. And this, among other things, via the Netherlands.