Flatotel developers formally indicted for fraud

Flatotel at 135 W. 52nd St. in Midtown, Manhattan

Mauricio Cohen Assor and son Leon Cohen-Levy, the developers and owners of the Flatotel International hotel chain, including a Flatotel at 135 West 52nd Street, have been formally indicted on charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government and filing false tax returns, the US Department of Justice announced today. Father and son were arrested last month. The pair allegedly concealed assets and income, including a $45 million real estate portfolio, from the Internal Revenue Service by setting up shell companies in tax haven areas including the Bahamas, Panama and Switzerland. Among the properties that have allegedly been concealed are a condo in the Trump World Tower in Manhattan worth $10 million and Cohen Assor’s $20 million home on Fisher Island. If convicted, each of the two defendants could spend up to 14 years behind bars and could be fined as much as $1 million each. Flatotel representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. TRD

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