United States v. Mark Gyetvay

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided August 7, 2025·No. 23-13383·Published

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 23-13254 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 08/07/2025 Page: 1 of 53

[PUBLISH]

In the

United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

Nos. 23-13254, 23-13383 ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus MARK GYETVAY, Defendant-Appellant.

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Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 2:21-cr-00083-JNE-NPM-1 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 23-13254 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 08/07/2025 Page: 2 of 53

2 Opinion of the Court 23-13254

Before ROSENBAUM, LAGOA, and WILSON, Circuit Judges. LAGOA, Circuit Judge: Mark Gyetvay, an American accountant and financial execu- tive who worked for many years in Russia, was indicted on a variety of tax-related charges, following an investigation into his alleged tardy filings and concealment of funds in Swiss bank accounts. Gyetvay was convicted at trial of four counts: failure to file income tax returns for 2013 and 2014 in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203, mak- ing false statements on his Streamlined Foreign Offshore Proce- dures certification in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and failure to file a 2014 Foreign Bank Account Report in violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5314 and 5322(a). On appeal, Gyetvay raises four arguments. First, he argues that the district court erred in tolling the statute of limitations for Counts 10 and 11, which charged failure to file tax returns in viola- tion of 26 U.S.C. § 7203. Second, he argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress a search warrant authoriz- ing seizure of his email account because both the warrant and sei- zure violated the Fourth Amendment. Third, he argues that the government constructively amended or materially varied from Count 13 of the indictment, which charged failure to file a 2014 Foreign Bank Account Report, violating the Fifth Amendment. Fi- nally, he argues that the district court made a variety of errors at sentencing, including in calculating his guideline range and order- ing him to pay $4,021,074 in restitution to the IRS. After careful USCA11 Case: 23-13254 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 08/07/2025 Page: 3 of 53

23-13254 Opinion of the Court 3

review, and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand for resentencing. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Every American citizen making a gross income above a min- imum exemption amount must file annual tax returns. 26 U.S.C. §§ 6011(a), 6012(a). Under 26 U.S.C. § 7203, willfully failing to timely file income tax returns is a misdemeanor.1 Additionally, un- der the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations, every American citizen with interests in or authority over a foreign bank account with a balance exceeding $10,000 must file an annual

1 26 U.S.C. § 7203 provides as follows:

Any person required under this title to pay any estimated tax or tax, or required by this title or by regulations made under authority thereof to make a return, keep any records, or sup- ply any information, who willfully fails to pay such estimated tax or tax, make such return, keep such records, or supply such information, at the time or times required by law or regula- tions, shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $25,000 ($100,000 in the case of a cor- poration), or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both, to- gether with the costs of prosecution. In the case of any person with respect to whom there is a failure to pay any estimated tax, this section shall not apply to such person with respect to such failure if there is no addition to tax under section 6654 or 6655 with respect to such failure. In the case of a willful viola- tion of any provision of section 6050I, the first sentence of this section shall be applied by substituting “felony” for “misde- meanor” and “5 years” for “1 year”. USCA11 Case: 23-13254 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 08/07/2025 Page: 4 of 53

4 Opinion of the Court 23-13254

Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts form (known as an “FBAR”) with the IRS, identifying and describing that account. See 31 C.F.R. §§ 1010.306(c), 1010.350(a). “These reports are designed to help the government ‘trace funds’ that may be used for ‘illicit purposes’ and identify ‘unreported income’ that may be subject to taxation separately under the terms of the Internal Revenue Code.” Bittner v. United States, 598 U.S. 85, 89–90 (2023) (quoting IRS Pub. 5569, Report of Foreign Bank & Financial Accounts (FBAR) Refer- ence Guide, p.1 (Rev. 3–2022)). Willful failure to file an FBAR is a felony under 31 U.S.C. § 5322(a). Gyetvay, an American citizen, is an accountant and financial executive. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Gyetvay worked in the Moscow office of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, eventually achieving the rank of partner. In 2003, he left PriceWaterhouseCoopers to become the Chief Financial Officer of Novatek, Russia’s largest pri- vate natural gas company. In 2005, Gyetvay was the “point man” for Novatek’s initial public offering (“IPO”). Over the next several years, in exchange for his work on the IPO, Gyetvay received $9.35 million in the form of a call option and 7,287,134 shares of Novatek stock, on top of millions of dollars in annual income. In 2007, he deposited the $9.35 million in a Swiss bank account held in the name of Opotiki Marketing Ltd. (the “Opotiki account”). In 2009, he deposited the Novatek stock in a Swiss securities account held in the name of Felicis Commercial Corp. (the “Felicis account”). Both accounts were opened at Coutts Bank. USCA11 Case: 23-13254 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 08/07/2025 Page: 5 of 53

23-13254 Opinion of the Court 5

In mid-2010, Coutts Bank informed Gyetvay that his Opotiki and Felicis accounts needed to be closed or declared tax compliant by the end of June 2010. Gyetvay then closed the Opotiki and Fe- licis accounts at Coutts and transferred them to another Swiss bank, Hyposwiss, this time listing his then-wife, Nadezda Gav- rilova, as the “beneficial owner” of both accounts. Coutts recorded Gyetvay’s “reason for departure” from the bank as “U.S. client not tax compliant.” Around September 2010, Gyetvay hired an accountant named Alex Knight to prepare his U.S. income tax returns for 2006– 2009. By that point, Gyetvay’s tax returns for 2006, 2007, and 2008 were already late. To aid in the preparations, Knight asked Gyetvay whether he had any foreign bank accounts, and Gyetvay indicated that he had only “[o]ne account” in Russia with a balance over $10,000. Knight also informed Gyetvay of his obligation to file FBAR forms for the preceding years, but, according to Knight, Gyetvay dismissed the recommendation and did not file FBARs for the years prior to 2010.

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