Houston billionaire Robert Brockman, 79, was charged with tax evasion in San Francisco Thursday – Federal prosecutors called Brockman’s scheme the biggest tax evasion case in US history

The billionaire software tycoon is accused of hiding $2B in income over 20 years and charged with money laundering and evidence tampering

Fed prosecutors said Brockman used a web of off-shore companies in the used a web of off-shore companies in Bermuda and St. Kitts and Nevis to hide and launder money

He was indicted after fellow billionaire Robert Smith turned against him to avoid prosecution in the tax evasion scheme

Investment billionaire and philanthropist, Robert Smith, admitted his guilt in the scheme and agreed to pay $139million in taxes and penalties to settle the tax probe

Billionaire CEO of Ohio-based Reynolds and Reynolds Co., Robert Brockman was charged with money laundering and evidence tampering on Thursday after allegedly hiding $2billion in income over a 20-year period
The Texas software mogul is accused of hiding billions of dollars in offshore accounts. Prosecutors charged Brockman with organizing the largest tax fraud scheme in US history.
Brockman, 79, was charged with money laundering and evidence tampering on Thursday after allegedly hiding $2billion in income over a 20-year period.
The 39-count indictment states the CEO of Ohio-based Reynolds and Reynolds Co, used a web of off-shore companies in Bermuda and St. Kitts and Nevis to hide and launder money.
The 42-page indictment, unsealed Thursday morning, alleges that in the late 1990s, Brockman formed companies on the British Virgin Islands and later used them to conceal assets from the IRS.
At a court hearing Thursday morning, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathaniel Cousins ordered Brockman to remain released but imposed a $1 million bond over defense objections.

Brockman was indicted after fellow billionaire Robert Smith turned against him to avoid prosecution.
Prosecutors said Brockman appointed nominees to manage the entities for him as a means of hiding his involvement, saying he even went so far as to establish a proprietary encrypted email system and used code words to communicate.  
‘The allegation of a $2billion tax fraud is the largest ever tax charge against an individual in the United States,’ US Attorney David Anderson said in a press conference in San Francisco. 
Brockman is also charged in a securities fraud scheme, after he bought and sold debt securities in his own company, ‘breaking a promise to investors that he would not buy or sell his own company’s debt.’ 
He faces seven counts of tax evasion, six counts of failing to file reports disclosing foreign bank accounts, and numerous other counts including wire fraud, money laundering and evidence tampering.  The charges include an estimated $60 million worth of fraud to his investors, and related money laundering, assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Pitman said in court Thursday.

Billionaire Robert Smith, who famously said he would pay off 2019 college graduates’ debt at last year’s Morehouse College commencement, turned against Brockman to avoid prosecution himself.
Smith, founder and chairman of investment firm Vista Equity Partners, accepted responsibility for his own crimes in the tax evasion scheme and will pay $139million to settle the tax probe, prosecutors said.
As part of his non-prosecution agreement, Smith admitted to using a nominee trustee and corporate manager to hide his control in four off-shore companies. 
Some of his untaxed income was used to buy a vacation home in Sonoma, California, and ski properties in the Alps, and to fund charitable causes.

‘Although Smith willfully and knowingly violated the law, Smith has accepted responsibility and agreed to provide complete and truthful cooperation,’ Anderson said.
Smith founded private equity firm Vista Equity Partners and he is listed by Forbes as being the nation’s wealthiest black investor.  
Following the indictment, Brockman is scheduled to make an appearance in San Francisco.
At a court hearing Thursday morning, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathaniel Cousins ordered Brockman to remain released but imposed a $1 million bond over defense objections.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Pitman said Thursday said that Brockman owns a Bombardier Global 6000 jet that’s hangared in Houston, and prosecutors are worried he will try to flee.
But Brockman’s attorney, Neal Stephens, said Brockman has been aware of the IRS investigation for four years yet made no attempt to hide from the law.
Brockman’s military career during the 1950s and 60s, his business background, 50-year marriage, recent bout with cancer, and other service — including as a life trustee for Centre College — as reasons to keep him released without the cash bond, Stephens said.
“He’s not a flight risk, and he’s certainly not a danger to the community,” Stephens said, later adding, “We deny and refute all the allegations and are looking forward to litigating this.”
Cousins imposed the cash bond after noting Brockman’s “financial ability” and potential motive to leave the United States. He is required to surrender his passport until his case is resolved.
At the news conference Thursday morning, Chief Jim Lee of the IRS said he was “incredibly irritated” and “disgusted” with the nature of the charges, so much so that he flew into San Francisco from Colorado to attend Thursday’s news conference in person.
“These allegations should disgust every American taxpayer as well, because the law applies to all of us when it comes to tax and paying our fair share,” Lee said.

The Houston based billionaire and software company CEO, whose net worth is estimated at more than $1 billion, has been charged with taking $2 billion through a scheme to evade taxes, hide assets, and launder money, in what federal prosecutors say is the biggest case of its kind.
The 42-page indictment, unsealed Thursday morning, alleges that in the late 1990s, Brockman formed companies on the British Virgin Islands and later used them to conceal assets from the IRS.
Among the explosive allegations in the indictment is a reference to an infamous 2013 incident when he arranged to donate $250 million to Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, which Brockman offered then inexplicably pulled weeks later. He facilitated the donation, along with related demands, through an uncharged co-conspirator in the case, the complaint alleges.
Prosecutors say he used code words on encrypted emails as part of an elaborate scheme to hide assets overseas. His code name was “Permit,” for instance, while others used nom de plumes like “Redfish,” “King,” “Bonefish,” “Snapper,” or “Steelhead.”
“Complexity will not hide crime from law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Dave Anderson said at a Thursday news conference announcing the charges. “We will not hesitate to prosecute the smartest guys in the room.”