LOS ANGELES – A Beverly Hills resident was indicted today by a federal grand jury for corruptly endeavoring to impede the internal revenue laws, filing false tax returns, filing false reports regarding his offshore bank accounts and making false statements to a federal agent, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Brown for the Central District of California.

The indictment charges that from 2006 through 2014, Teymour Khoubian impeded the administration of the internal revenue laws. According to the indictment, Khoubian filed false individual tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for tax 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 also allegedly falsely claimed 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. In 2008, Khoubian is alleged to have held approximately $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 (FBARs) with the U.S. Department of Treasury that concealed his German account. U.S. 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 resided in Beverly Hills, California.

Khoubian is also charged with making false statements to an IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) 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.

If convicted, Khoubian faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison for corruptly endeavoring to impede the internal revenue laws and each count of filing a false return and five years in prison for each count of filing a false FBAR and making a false statement. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Brown thanked special agents of IRS CI, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Christopher S. Strauss and Ellen M. Quattrucci of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Conte, who are prosecuting this case.

Additional information about the Tax Division's enforcement efforts can be found on the division's website.

Component(s): USAO – California, Central

Contact: Thom Mrozek Spokesperson/Public Affairs Officer United States Attorney's Office Central District of California (Los Angeles) 213-894-6947

Press Release Number: 17-808Updated July 21, 2017

Central District of California DOJ / 17-808 / July 20, 2017