Beverly Hills Man Indicted For Alleged Tax Fraud

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — A Beverly Hills man was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury for allegedly attempting to thwart tax laws, submitting false returns, filing bogus reports regarding his offshore bank accounts and lying to a federal agent.

According to the indictment, Teymour Khoubian filed returns with the Internal Revenue Service for the years 2005 through 2010 that did not report his financial interest in multiple Israeli and German bank accounts or the interest income that he earned from those accounts.

He's also accused of falsely claiming refundable tax credits to which he was not entitled, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is intended for low- to moderate-income working individuals, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In 2008, Khoubian is alleged to have held about $20 million in assets in his undisclosed accounts. The indictment charges that Khoubian also filed a false 2011 tax return that underreported the interest income he earned from his Israeli accounts and continued to fail to disclose that he held an account in Germany.

Khoubian is also alleged to have filed false 2012 and 2013 Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts forms with the U.S. Department of Treasury that concealed his German account. United States citizens, resident aliens, and permanent legal residents with a foreign financial interest in or signatory authority over a foreign financial account worth more than $10,000 are required to file an FBAR disclosing the account.

In addition to filing false tax returns and FBARs, Khoubian allegedly provided his German bank with a copy of his Iranian passport and a residential address located in Israel to prevent the bank from disclosing the account to the IRS. He also allegedly sent a letter to Bank Leumi falsely claiming he was living in Iran when, in fact, he lived in Beverly Hills.

Khoubian is also charged with making false statements to an IRS Criminal Investigation special agent, denying that he owned an account in Germany between 2005 and 2010, stating that the German account was closed, when it was in fact still open, and stating that the funds had been transferred to the United States, when Khoubian had allegedly transferred over $600,000 from his German account to his accounts in Israel.

Khoubian faces up to three years in prison if convicted of corruptly endeavoring to impede the internal revenue laws and for each count of filing a false return. He would also face up to five years behind bars for each count of filing a false FBAR and making a false statement. He could also be sentenced to a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties, if found guilty.

City News Service

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