Le Perigord owner pleads guilty in tax case
NEW YORK â?? A founder of famed New York City restaurant Le Périgord faces a potential three-year prison sentence that could take him away from the paragon of traditional French cuisine after he pleaded guilty to hiding income in offshore bank accounts.
Georges Briguet, 77, admitted during a Brooklyn federal court hearing Wednesday that he attempted to obstruct the IRS by concealing the funds for years in two Swiss banks.
The acknowledgment gave the Department of Justice a high-profile legal victory in a continuing government crackdown on offshore tax evasion that has produced dozens of convictions of wealthy Americans and cracked the tradition of Swiss banking secrecy.
Briguet is a naturalized U.S. citizen who comes from a family of Swiss winemakers. He opened an account at UBS (UBS), Switzerland’s largest bank, with approximately 7 million Swiss francs in 1992, according to federal prosecutors. Briguet transferred the funds in 2008 to a numbered account he maintained until 2011 at Clariden Leu, a private Swiss bank now part of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse.
Prosecutors said Briguet filed false federal income tax returns for tax years 2001 through 2010 by failing to comply with the requirement to disclose the accounts to the IRS and knowingly neglecting to report and pay taxes on the income held in Switzerland.
Additionally, Briguet separately told an IRS revenue agent and a special agent that he had no foreign income or overseas financial accounts, prosecutors said.
In addition to the potential prison term, Briguet faces a $250,000 fine and IRS restitution payments totaling $169,935.
“Mr. Briguet has taken responsibility for what he has done,” said Briquet’s attorney, Robert Fink, a senior partner at Kostelanetz & Fink. “He is hopeful that he can return to his restaurant, and that the government will let him live out his remaining years with his wife, his children and his grandchildren. The charge against him is wholly unrelated to the prestigious French restaurant, Le Périgord, which he founded.”
Briguet has led the restaurant since 1964, according to a history on its website. His son, Christopher, now carries on the family tradition by continuing Le Périgord’s reputation for “exemplary and discreet service” in its location on Manhattan’s upscale East Side, the history says.
“Our staff genuinely cares about our guests, are knowledgeable and can skillfully debone a Dover sole meuniére as well as effortlessly carve a roast duck at your table,” the summary advises.
The restaurant’s reputation for traditional French cooking has brought Le Périgord high marks from restaurant reviewers – including a rating of 24 out of 30 for food from the 2015 Zagat guide to New York City dining establishments.
Briguet’s account at UBS was among thousands of secret holdings by Americans at Switzerland’s largest bank. UBS reached a $780 million deferred-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice in 2009 after admitting its bankers had secretly helped U.S. customers evade taxes.
Last week, UBS confirmed it was under investigation by Brooklyn prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission over potential sales of so-called bearer bonds to American customers. The sales could pose potential violations of U.S. securities law and 1982 legislation that closed several tax loopholes.
UBS said the bank is cooperating with the investigation.
