How One Florida Family Hid $90M from the IRS

Turns out, hiding millions from the IRS isn’t just a plot reserved for Netflix dramas. Gilda Rosenberg, a dual U.S.-Colombian citizen living in the upscale enclave of Golden Beach, Florida, just became the latest cautionary tale in a string of high-stakes tax evasion busts. Her crime? Teaming up with family members to stash more than $90 million across foreign banks in Switzerland, Israel, Andorra, and Panama over 12 years. Let’s break it down: what happened, how she pulled it off, and why it should make every finance professional sit up and pay attention.

A Decade of Deception

Rosenberg’s journey into financial infamy didn’t start in 2010; it started way back in the 1970s. Her family had been quietly hoarding money overseas for decades. By the late ’90s, she was officially listed as an owner or signer on some of these accounts. And by that point, she knew they were in deep, you can’t forget to file FBARs for 30 years and pretend you didn’t notice. In the early 2000s, the family consolidated their assets into Credit Suisse, one of the go-to spots for discreet wealth. They even admitted to the bank they were U.S. citizens trying to stay off Uncle Sam’s radar. That honesty didn’t last: once Credit Suisse closed their accounts in 2013 due to regulatory heat, they scrambled to move funds elsewhere, Bank Leumi in Israel, UBP and PKB in Switzerland, and a bank in Andorra.

To keep things hidden, they used nominee entities and signed off on documents pretending Gilda was just a Colombian citizen, not American. On paper, she was barely there. She was the running point. And it gets wilder. By 2017, they faked a “gift” of assets to a relative who had renounced U.S. citizenship, then used forged loan and investment documents to funnel money back to Rosenberg in the States quietly. Between 2010 and 2017 alone, she failed to report more than $5.5 million in income, leading to a tax loss of nearly $2 million. Before you ask—yes, she also has a side hustle in wire fraud. She already pleaded guilty in Texas for a scam involving falsified commission reports to cheat the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, and multitasking at its criminal best.

The IRS Isn’t Sleeping

Rosenberg isn’t the first, or the last, to think she could beat the system. Just a few months ago, Dan Rotta, a Miami businessman, was sentenced to five years for hiding $20 million in Swiss accounts. Before that, Indianapolis CPA Jason Crace and tax preparer Farooq Khan got nailed for a tax shelter scheme and CARES Act abuse. Then there’s Ronald Cordes, the Seattle real estate mogul, who got convicted for orchestrating a $4.7 million shell company scheme. Spoiler: he’s now looking at nearly 30 years. So yeah, the IRS is cracking down hard. But here’s the kicker: they’re still missing stuff. These aren’t small-time operations; these are multi-year, multi-country fraud networks. The penalties are steep, but the prevention? Still playing catch-up.

Don’t Get Cute with Compliance

Let’s be real, financial professionals walk a fine line between “creative strategy” and “federal indictment.” If you’re advising high-net-worth clients, here’s what you should be thinking about:

• Know Your FBARs: If foreign accounts total more than $10K at any point in a year, they’ve got to be reported. No excuses. Rosenberg didn’t file hers for years. That alone cost her nearly $6 million in penalties.
• "Non-Willful" Doesn’t Mean "No Big Deal": Even if you didn’t mean to skip filing, the IRS can still slap you with $10K per account, per year. Got five accounts over five years? That’s $250K. Forget plausible deniability; it adds up fast.
• Paper Trails Matter: The IRS has become obsessed with documentation. Fake loan agreements, false citizenship claims, and nominee ownership- it all looks clever until a DOJ prosecutor holds it up in court.
• Voluntary Disclosure Is the Lifeline: If your client messed up, get ahead of the IRS before they come knocking. Once an investigation starts, that safety net disappears.

What the IRS Should Be Doing

Here’s the truth: while the IRS has sharpened its tools, there’s still a lot of patchwork. International banks know how to play defense, and many of them have no problem turning a blind eye when big dollars are involved.

So, what’s needed?

• Mandatory Account Flagging by Jurisdiction: If a U.S. citizen opens or controls a foreign account, the bank should notify U.S. authorities. Automatically. No workaround.
• More Real-Time Data Sharing: Delayed reporting is how people like Rosenberg keep the ruse going. Faster cross-border info exchange, especially with places like Switzerland and Israel, would help stop schemes midstream.
• Focus on Beneficial Ownership: Most of these scams involve shell companies. The IRS should make it way harder to hide behind nominees and trusts.
• Targeted AI Audits: With a case this elaborate, a red flag should’ve gone up. Using AI to cross-reference citizenship, account activity, and reported income could flag this kind of scheme a lot earlier.

Final Thought

Gilda Rosenberg now faces 30 months in prison, millions in fines, and a long stretch of supervised release. All for trying to beat the tax system with a sleight of hand that went on too long. If you think your spreadsheet is smarter than the IRS, just remember they’ve heard it all. And these days, they’re fighting back, with tech, with teeth, and with a very long memory. Don’t be the next headline. Stay ahead of tax, accounting, and compliance updates. Subscribe to the MYCPE ONE Insights newsletter for weekly expert takes and real-world stories.