IRS cracks down on lavish lifestyles of top real estate agents | Residential

The facade of the top broker at this seemingly successful agency came crashing down like a house of cards on May 9 last year when the Eco Crime Bureau swooped in and arrested the top broker and his business partner.

The arrest came as an extra shock to the top agent because he He thought it was his bachelor party when plainclothes police burst in and arrested him and sent to Kronoberg Prison in Stockholm.

Today, the brokerage is a thing of the past after it collapsed last September with debts of nearly 14 million Swedish kronor, most of which were tax debts.

Mikael Klerbroa, a lawyer for the bankruptcy trustee, wrote in the trustee’s report that brokerage firms can do this. “Illegal transfer of value” And it’s lost “Sufficient foundation” Many payments are due during 2023.

The firm’s top broker and his business partner were both convicted of serious financial crimes that occurred through the brokerage firm.

At the District Court, the top broker was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. The business partner was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. The crimes involved, among other things, multiple serious accounting irregularities and commercial money laundering. A woman was sentenced to two years in prison for serious fraud and money laundering.

Investigations by the Economic Crimes Management Agency revealed that several people were working as fake employees at the brokerage firm in order to obtain loans. Serkan Demirkiran, 25, is wanted internationally for his role in the high-profile murder of 12-year-old Adriana.

All three deny wrongdoing and have appealed in the hope of being acquitted.

Prosecutors demand harsher sentences

In a cross-appeal before the Svea Court of Appeal, Chambers Public Prosecutor Linda Johansson informed the court that she was asking for harsher prison sentences for those involved. She believed that the sentence handed down by the Stockholm District Court was too lenient and that any kind of discount on the fine would be insignificant for the top agent, his business partner or the woman sentenced to prison.

“The criminal value of these crimes is far greater than the district court concluded. For all three defendants, the total penalty value of the conduct for which they were convicted is greater than the sentences imposed by the district court. There is no good reason for any of the three defendants to make deductions at sentencing.” Linda Johansson wrote to the Court of Appeal.

The prosecutor told Expressen that she believed the district court’s sentence was too lenient.

Both were indicted by the District Court and were banned from doing business for five years. But even at this point, Chambers Attorney Linda Johnson felt that a stricter control must be taken by the Court of Appeal and asked for a seven-year business ban, which he also requested in the District Court.

– Top broker’s defense lawyer Behrang Eslami said that we disagree with the prosecutor’s view and he wants to see his client acquitted. He also expressed dissatisfaction that the district court never took into account the fact that the broker had been subject to a travel ban for more than a year in its verdict.

The Eco-Crime Authority raids were also Tax Agent Woke up and started calling the agency, the top agent, and his business partners.

The brokerage company of a top brokerage firm as managing director was humiliated on June 26 Tax claims exceeding SEK 640,000 from VAT, employer contributions and surcharges, The Swedish Tax Agency has launched a review of the business over the past 1.5 years, according to the Siren news agency. The main part of the claim relates to hotel and restaurant expenses and other purchases during trips abroad, which are now taxed as wages for the representatives.

Luxury living in Marbella

Investigators from the Swedish Tax Agency examined how the top broker and his business colleagues used payment cards associated with the brokerage firm. Discounts were wide-ranging and applied to both small and large items. The company’s cards had been widely used in Spain, mainly in and around Marbella.

SEK 113,782 paid to a company in Marbella “Develop and renovate exclusive properties for buyers” The tax office wrote that there was a lack of documentation in the accounting and it was unclear what the payment was for.

When I went to nightclubs in Spain, I paid with the agency’s card.

The pub notes did not include the names of the guests. The tax office specifically collated how the top broker and his companions spent money in Spain using company cards. This applied to hotel bills and bar bills, which were examined in detail by Swedish tax agency investigators.

in conclusion:

”The Tax Office considers that it is clear from the purchases in Spain that those related to restaurant visits, food, hotel expenses, car rentals, etc. and paid for through SEB Kort are not business purchases. These purchases have the characteristics of private costs”.

According to the tax office’s assessment, Spain’s total expenditure from 2022 to June 2023 is just over 1.1 million crowns.

Toppmaklaren justified all management expenses in Spain before the Swedish tax authorities because they would invest in a subsidiary in the country.

Eaton Shirt Salaries for Top Agents

One curious sub-item in the IRD’s review involved Eaton shirts purchased by a top broker using his company card. The auditors said the purchases were personal and taxable as wages. The top broker claimed the shirts were a reward for the brokerage’s performance that month.

“During the course of the Swedish Tax Agency’s investigation, no evidence was found that you distributed the purchased shirts in any sales competitions”

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The Express has previously told how Economic Crime Directorate officers reacted to the top agent’s lavish home when they raided it at dawn and arrested him in May last year. They found the luxury so extraordinary that they They prepared a special memo about their observations on the home floor and photographed some of the things they saw in the home.

The appeals court trial is set to begin in late fall.