Billionaire Robert F. Smith put his girlfriend in a Manhattan apartment and bought expensive homes in California, Colorado and France with tax-exempt income. Fraudulent spending.
Smith, 59, was embroiled in the largest tax forfeiture in 2020 in U.S. history, but his business partner, ex-Reynolds& } He escaped prosecution by agreeing to testify against Reynolds. From the IRS he was accused of hiding $2 billion from his CEO Robert Brockman. Brockman passed away earlier this month.
According to Forbes,with his $8 billion net worth, is the richest black man in the United States, Vista Equities. he was fined $139 million. He then filed aseries of motionsto seal the evidence against him in the case.
Despite his efforts to keep details of his spending confidential, his June affidavit from the Treasury Special Agent in connection with the case against Smith and Brockman's accountants The book reveals how Smith hid money from Uncle Sam and spent it lavishly.according to the Daily Mail.
The affidavit contains information from a private investigator hired by Smith's ex-wife Suzanne McFadden during the bitter divorce.
"Smith had the business pay for the rent of a luxury apartment in New York City and the living expenses of Smith's then-girlfriend, treating them as business-related expenses," said Special Agent Trista Mertz. is an affidavit he reportedly wrote in 2018.
The written statement also reportedly listed properties purchased by billionaires using offshore funds hidden from the government.
Smith said that between 2009 and 2013 he purchased his River Ranch in Boulder, Hawke, Colorado in parcels using tax-exempt funds of $12 million, He also spent $22 million to refurbish it, British tabloids reported.
According to the article, the 6,600-square-foot riverfront home he sits on 300 acres and boasts a pool, tennis courts, and a lake for fishing.
Smith has two ski condos and a restaurant and nightclub called White Pearl. I also bought a club. He provided more than $5 million in financing in the Alpine town of Megève, using offshore accounts, according to his affidavit.
He pays rent to his own company and pays taxes said to have paid. His disgruntled ex reportedly told authorities that investigators had gotten his way.
According to the article, McFayden claimed to have used the properties "as weekends and holiday getaways where children learn how to ski", despite claiming the properties as business expenses.
An additional $7.5 million in tax-exempt funds were used to purchase and renovate a "second home" in Sonoma, California, court documents say.
Smith was also alleged to have used his business account in 2013 to send an unidentified girlfriend to his Manhattan apartment, according to reports. The affidavit does not specify which apartment, but Smith owns multiple homes in the city, including his $59 million Chelsea penthouse, which he purchased in 2018. increase.
In 2020, Smith reportedly bought two homes in Palm Beach, North Florida, which he combined for $48 million.
Smith and his accountant Carlos Koepke have established foreign trusts in Nevis, Belize, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands, according to agent Mertz.
"Smith used this mechanism to conceal from the IRS approximately $150 million in taxable income from various Vistas, his private equity funds," he said. The affidavit states:
As the government's prosecution of Koepke continued, it was unclear what Brockman's death would mean for the future of his IRS' tax lawsuit, according to the article.
Smith gave charitable gifts for several years before cooperating.Most notably, it pledged to pay off $34 million worth of student loans for 2019 class of students at Morehouse College. She calls former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin daily and sits on Ivanka Trump's White House Advisory Board for jobs, according to reports.