Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

Our Miami-Dade tax evasion criminal defense lawyers were very interested in the IRS investigation of Swiss bank UBS and its clients who are American taxpayers. That case is nearly settled, although a recent Swiss ruling may stymie matters. However, clients of at least one other bank got an unpleasant surprise recently when the New York Times ran a piece about a whistleblower at another Swiss bank, the privacy-focused Julius Baer. The newspaper reported Jan. 19 that Rudolf M. Elmer, a former Julius Baer employee, began meeting with tax authorities last week to disclose information he says shows that his ex-employer and numerous American banks knowingly helped Americans hide their assets from the IRS.

Elmer worked for Julius Baer for 15 years in Switzerland and another eight years as the COO of a branch in Grand Cayman, a Caribbean island. He claims that he discovered evidence of tax evasion in 2002, the same year he was dismissed from his job. Specifically, Elmer claims to have documents showing that American investment companies steered clients who wanted to avoid taxes to Julius Baer. The Swiss bank, in turn, backdated documents establishing tax shelters and funneled high-value transactions for American investment firms through the bank’s Caribbean entities, where they could avoid U.S. taxes. His attorney said this information helps confirm information the IRS has already recovered through its voluntary disclosure program, although the IRS declined to confirm this. The IRS did say that it is investigating banks other than UBS.

Julius Baer claims Elmer is a disgruntled former employee seeking revenge for losing a promotion, his dismissal and what he perceives as an insufficient financial settlement. It also said he stole documents while at the bank, and that he has forged documents in order to trump up evidence against the bank and its clients. Swiss authorities are investigating the stolen-documents claims, but Elmer was already jailed briefly, in 2005, for breaking Swiss banking secrecy laws. In fact, each side accuses the other of borderline violence.

As West Palm Beach tax fraud defense attorneys, we will watch the IRS closely this year to see whether it pursues a case against Julius Baer clients who pay taxes in the United States. If Elmer’s claims are true, many very wealthy individuals who were not involved with UBS will now have to face the possibility of audits, investigation and criminal charges. To make matters worse, the IRS no longer offers its special voluntary disclosure program, which gave lenience and lower fines to taxpayers who come clean and share information with the government. The agency does offer a normal voluntary disclosure program, but the special rules from last year do not apply. That’s why it’s even more important now for taxpayers considering a disclosure to get help from an experienced tax crimes defense lawyer

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Our West Palm Beach traffic ticket defense attorneys were appalled by a news report about an elderly woman who was in jail over Thanksgiving because she failed to respond to a DHSMV letter. BrowardBulldog.org reported Jan. 11 that Gabrielle Shaink Trudeau, 78, was held in Broward County Jail for 15 days and given $2,000 bail for traffic charges. Trudeau had no previous criminal record when she failed to appear in court on charges of driving with a suspended license. She was arrested and appeared in court wearing heavy chains, prompting a sharply worded speech from the judge who released her.

Shaink Trudeau’s license was suspended in late August because she failed to respond to a letter from the DHSMV about undisclosed medical issues. A few weeks later, she was pulled over for driving too slowly and issued a ticket for driving on a suspended license. However, in mid-September, she received a letter saying her license was reinstated. Believing that letter resolved the ticket, she didn’t appear at an early October court hearing. The judge in that case issued a bench warrant for her arrest, and Broward County deputies eventually showed up to arrest her in her own kitchen.

Pretrial workers found Shaink Trudeau a good candidate for release without bail, and some were on duty during her bail hearing. But neither they nor the two public defenders on duty advocated for her or suggested that her case needed special handling. As a result, the magistrate simply set a predetermined amount of bail and zipped on to the next defendant. After the bail was set, Shaink Trudeau said she made a confused gesture to her neighbor, but nobody saw. She said she never paid the $2,000 bail during the next two weeks she spent in jail because someone kept telling her it wasn’t necessary. Finally, at her Dec. 2 arraignment, prosecutors dropped the charges because they incorrectly believed her license hadn’t been suspended when she got the ticket. It was reinstated afterward -- but suspended again while she was in jail because she failed to obtain a medical reevaluation.

We wonder how many other Gabrielle Shaink Trudeaus are out there. This case underscores multiple important problems with Florida’s justice system: overly harsh traffic laws, confusing communications and court workers who are too busy or too disinterested to notice when a case requires special attention. Many of our clients, like Shaink Trudeau, don’t realize their licenses were suspended until after they have been pulled over and ticketed. From there, it takes very little to end up arrested and jailed -- all over something small like a speeding ticket or a medical examination requirement. Without a Fort Lauderdale traffic offense criminal defense attorney or another advocate, these drivers could end up jailed indefinitely, and not all of them are as sympathetic as a 78-year-old woman.

Continue reading " Palm Beach County Grandmother Jailed 15 Days by Mistake " »

A recent article about a drug arrest caught the attention of our Fort Lauderdale drug crimes defense attorneys. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Jan. 8 that the Port Everglades terminal was evacuated and a cruise ship passenger arrested after a customs agent found a “suspicious” liquid on the passenger. After sniffing the liquid, the agent reported feeling lightheaded and having an elevated heart rate. He was seen and released from the hospital, and laboratory tests of the liquid have suggested that it’s harmless. However, the passenger, 25-year-old Casey Flynn, was found with marijuana and arrested for drug possession. As a precaution, authorities also evacuated the terminal for about three hours.

The Sun-Sentinel said customs agents and the Broward Sheriff’s Office were scanning the crowd for people with outstanding arrest warrants on the morning that Flynn was disembarking from a five-day, music-themed cruise. As he was leaving the ship, an agent saw him drop a container of liquid and stopped him. After the agent reported feeling unwell, authorities evacuated about 300 people from the terminal. More of the cruise ship’s 2,750 passengers were required to wait on board the ship until hazardous materials investigators cleared the terminal to reopen. Laboratory tests found the liquid harmless, but these results were deemed inconclusive and the samples were sent for additional testing. Flynn may face charges related to the liquid in addition to the marijuana possession charge.

As Miami drug possession defense lawyers, we think Flynn may have a strong case for defending himself against both charges, if a second charge is even brought. As a rule, evidence obtained from illegal searches cannot be admitted in court. This includes evidence that forms the backbone or entirety of a criminal case, such as the marijuana found on Flynn. It’s not clear from the article whether the search was legal, but judging by the description, the customs agent may not have had probable cause to search him. After all, travelers routinely carry liquids like shampoo and mouthwash. If the search is thrown out, the marijuana possession charge, and any charge related to the mysterious liquid, may also have to be thrown out. And to charge Flynn in connection with the evacuation, prosecutors would have to show that he, and not law enforcement overreaction, was responsible for causing it.

Continue reading " Cruise Ship Passenger Held After Customs Agent Finds Suspicious Liquid " »

Just before the holidays, the Orlando Sentinel undertook an investigation that amused our Fort Lauderdale traffic ticket defense attorneys. According to the Dec. 22 article, Florida Gators team members have racked up a total of 251 traffic tickets in Alachua County, where Gainesville is located, between 2006 and 2009. Thirty-two of those cases have not yet been resolved, meaning the ticket has not been paid or the charges were not resolved. This includes traffic citations of all types, including tickets that didn’t lead to an arrest as well as high-profile incidents like the DUI arrest of Carlos Dunlap on Dec. 1. The newspaper counted citations among 96 students who participated in Gators games or were listed as participants in the organization.

The traffic offenses were not evenly distributed throughout the team, the investigation found. Twelve Gators players have seven or more tickets. By contrast, 32 have no tickets at all. Among them is quarterback Tim Tebow, as well as 11 students who haven’t yet been on campus for a full year. Most of the traffic offenses counted were citations rather than criminal charges, for offenses like speeding and expired registration. Dunlap had the only drunk driving charge, but others on the team had been arrested for repeatedly driving with a suspended license. A state’s attorney told the newspaper that this is a common problem in Florida because too many unpaid traffic tickets of any kind can trigger a suspension. A driver caught with a suspended license will be issued yet another citation for that offense -- but failure to pay that ticket could lead to arrest.

As West Palm Beach traffic citation criminal defense lawyers, we see this process at work for all kinds of drivers, most of whom are not football stars. Younger people aren’t always the most responsible drivers, which is one reason why their auto insurance rates are higher. Getting traffic tickets, and failing to pay them, is not the best behavior, but they’re not unusual for young adults getting their first taste of freedom. As the article notes, Florida’s license-suspension process is almost notorious for leading to surprise arrests, for people who had no idea that failure to pay tickets could mean jail. And many of the Gators players are famous, which means they may be victims of officers’ eagerness to show that they don’t play favorites.

Continue reading " Investigation Shows Gators Players Have 251 Traffic Citations Team-Wide " »