Christchurch barrister jailed in the US for $14m tax fraud
A BARRISTER has been ordered to serve 20 months in a US prison after he was found guilty of fraudulently trying to hide $14m in overseas accounts.
Michael Little, a member of Kings Bench Chambers in Christchurch, appeared before a federal court in New York to face sentence having been convicted earlier this year of 19 charges.
The matters related to the 68-year-old former marine defrauding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by hiding millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts and also failing to pay his own taxes.
Prior to the sentencing, prosecutors had argued Little should be jailed for between 10 and 12 years for his offending, some of which, the trial heard, related to his work with members of the wealthy Seggerman family between 2001 and 2012.
Jurors heard evidence of how Little (pictured) had helped the family avoid paying US tax following the death of Harry Seggerman in 2001. He had stashed $14m overseas in Swiss bank accounts.
Little also failed to file any tax returns with the IRS between 2005 and 2010, or any annual Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts in connection with foreign bank accounts he controlled that contained at least $10,000 between 2007 and 2010.
Lawyers for the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York – which led the prosecution – argued Little should pay $4.4m in restitution.
Countering their claims, the defendant told the sentencing hearing he should walk free from court and be sentenced to community work instead.
He said he had recently suffered a near fatal heart attack and said his health had been “broken” by the entire saga – which began when he was arrested by US authorities at a New York airport in 2012.
Little claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy devised by the Seggerman family and a “scapegoat” for prosecutors, and his inexperience meant he had relied on the advice of other lawyers and was unprepared to understand the scheme.
Little also argued the charges relating to him failing to file tax returns were “selective” since he was living permanently in the UK, and US laws only applied to its citizens or permanent residents.
Judge Kevin Castel ruled the defendant should serve 20 months in a prison close to New York that could offer medical care for the defendant’s heart condition, granting him bail to report to prison on 19th February 2019 to start his term behind bars.
However, it does not bring an end to the colourful case, which at trial saw four Seggerman family members – one of whom helped produce the Crocodile Dundee movies – take the stand to give evidence against Little and admit to playing a part in a fraud scheme.
Little, a father-of-two, told the A&T he plans to submit an appeal against the verdicts.
The judge has still to rule how much, if any, restitution Little should pay, and members of the Seggerman family who became embroiled in the scheme have yet to be sentenced for their roles.
The defendant, who lived in Winchester, studied law at the University of Southampton, before setting up a solicitor’s practice in the UK and subsequently qualifying as a barrister. He acted in civil and criminal matters in the local crown courts including Southampton and Bournemouth.
