(JTA) — A Florida man who hid $10 million in offshore accounts did it because his Holocaust survivor parents taught him to "hide and hoard," his lawyer said.
Jack Barouh, 65, a former watchmaker who sold his luxury watch manufacturing and distributing company in 2004 for $50 million, was sentenced Friday to 10 months in prison for tax evasion. He hid $6 million in offshore accounts at UBS AG. He had been hiding money since 1976, according to reports.
His layyer argued that Barouh had a compulsion "to establish a secret nest egg" as his parents taught him. Barouh, whose family fled from Austria during the Holocaust and moved to Colombia, reportedly received psychiatric help for his compulsion.
Barouh is one of 11 UBS clients to plead guilty to tax evasion since the bank admitted in February 2009 that it helped Americans evade paying taxes. The bank paid $780 million in fines. Barouh’s sentence is the longest so far, according to Bloomberg News.
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