Former CPA and International Fugitive Brian Nelson Booker Charged with Tax Fraud and FBAR Violations
(Washington = Alex Walczak) Brian Nelson Booker, a former CPA and international fugitive, appeared in federal court on July 27 to face charges of failing to report foreign bank accounts and submitting false documents to the IRS, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Booker, once a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was indicted in July 2021 by a federal grand jury on multiple counts including failure to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs), filing false income tax returns, and making false statements to the IRS. He owned and operated a cocoa trading company registered in Panama, conducting business from Venezuela, Panama, and Florida.
Between 2011 and 2013, Booker allegedly failed to disclose ownership of financial accounts in Switzerland, Singapore, and Panama on the required annual FBAR filings. Additionally, his individual income tax returns from 2010 to 2012 did not report all foreign accounts. He also submitted a false “Streamlined Submission” under the IRS’s Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures, falsely claiming his omissions were non-willful.
After learning of the criminal investigation in 2016, Booker fled the U.S. and lived in Russia, which declined to extradite him. He was arrested in Belarus in May 2025, detained, and later expelled. Booker was re-arrested upon his return to the U.S. at Miami International Airport on July 24.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division stated Booker faces up to five years in prison for each FBAR and false statement count, and up to three years for each count of filing false documents with the IRS. The IRS Criminal Investigation division is leading the probe, with Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty prosecuting.
The Department of Justice recently established the National Fraud Enforcement Division to intensify efforts against fraud, supporting President Joe Biden’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, targeting fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefit programs.
The DOJ emphasized that the charges are allegations, and Booker is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This case highlights the U.S. government’s commitment to enforcing transparency in international financial transactions and tax compliance.
