Israeli Banker Pleads Guilty To Helping Americans Defraud U.S.

On June 27, 2008, Joseph Roth, 66, of Tel Aviv and a banker with United Mizrahi Bank, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in Los Angeles, admitting that he participated in a scheme to defraud the U.S. out of millions of dollars in tax revenues by establishing secret bank accounts in Israel involving the use of bogus trusts. The secret accounts were established to facilitate a tax evasion scheme involving ?charitable contributions? to an orthodox Jewish group that refunded most of the money back to ?contributors,? and to conceal money for other illegal purposes...[more]