A federal judge in New York City on May 15 sentenced Ridgefield businessman and philanthropist George Landegger to two months in prison in connection with a Swiss Bank case.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan also required Landegger to pay $71,824 in restitution to the government and a fine of $30,000 in connection with the Swiss Bank case.
The judge imposed a civil penalty of $4.2 million on Landegger.
Landegger, 78 on Jan. 16, pleaded guilty to willfully failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank Accounts, effectively hiding more than $8.4 million in secret Swiss bank accounts, thus avoiding paying taxes.
Landegger had faced a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors in New York believed his jail time is insufficient for the crime, according to a published report.
He expressed contrition for his actions in a letter to The Press earlier this year.
“I am deeply remorseful for my conduct and hope to continue to lead a meaningful life in the Ridgefield community and elsewhere, and to make a positive difference in the lives of others,” Landegger wrote in a statement to The Press in January. He was expected to release a new statement following the sentencing, as well.
Landegger is known for his good deeds in the community. In March he provided a $200,000 challenge grant for the Ballard Park’s playground, which he founded with donations more than two decades ago.
Landegger’s company, Parsons & Whittemore, had business in at least two countries, according to a published report in AL.com. It said he employed hundreds of people at a pair of pulp paper mills in Monroe County, Al., that he sold in 2010 to Georgia-Pacific, a subisidary of Koch Industries.
Landegger’s attorney, Edward M. Spiro of Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello P.C., said his client did try to come foward when other Swiss bank account holders were granted amnesty, but he was not given the same protection.
In 2013, Landegger applied to voluntarily disclose to the U.S. government his account, which had been closed some three or four years earlier, Spiro said. This was under a formal amnesty program through which tens of thousands of U.S. taxpayers have been amnestied after paying any taxes due and paying between 20 and 27-1/2% of the highest amount in their accounts over a six-year period.
The government did not permit Landegger to enter the program, saying that they had received his name directly from another source, the attorney said. Nationwide less than 100 individuals with Swiss accounts were being prosecuted.
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