Monday, June 13, 2011

Boston Private Director Charged with Offshore Tax Cheating


The Carlyle Group's Boston Private Financial Holdings has a number of subsidiaries.  Boston Private Bank & Trust (BPBT) is one. Their website states:

Boston Private Bank & Trust Company was rated as the top wealth management brand among wealthy investors in a recent Luxury Institute survey.

The survey, released on April 20, asked investors with at least $5 million in net worth to rate wealth management firms based on four indices, including quality of service. Boston Private Bank & Trust Company is the only brand among 34 evaluated to rate above average across all four component measures of the Luxury Brand Status Index TM.

Irony has Michael Schiavo, a BPBT board member, using a partner's UBS Swiss bank account to ship pretax money to a Bermuda bank.  Schiavo reached a plea agreement with the IRS for his crimes.

Adding to the irony, Carlyle owns a Bermuda bank, Butterfield Bank.  Schiavo did not use Butterfield for his tax evasion, instead going with HSBC Bank Bermuda.  Was Schiavo aware of Carlyle's offshore activities?

DBD Cayman Holdings Ltd
DBD Cayman Ltd
Carlyle AP-Q (Cayman) Co investment, L.P
Carlyle Asia Growth Partners, III, L.P. (Cayman)
Carlyle Com Hem Partners II L.P. (Cayman
Carlyle IMO Partners I LP (Cayman)
Carlyle IMO Partners II LP (Cayman)
Carlyle Japan International Partners II, L.P. (Cayman)
Carlyle Multi-Strategy Master Fund, Ltd (Cayman)
Carlyle Riverstone River Partners II, L.P. (Cayman)

Carlyle set up many offshore funds during the time of Schiavo's tax cheating.  Ironically, Boston Private survived the financial meltdown via $153 million in TARP funding.  Did Schiavo not make the connection between Uncle Sam's generosity and his board pay?

Greed addicts have an end in common.  There's no telling about the means.