Most international tax advisors built their careers climbing the ladder at a big firm, cashing steady paychecks, and advising from the safety of a desk. Their knowledge comes from textbooks and continuing education seminars.
My path was different. And it's made all the difference in how I think, how I advise, and why my clients trust me with their most important decisions.
I graduated high school at 16. By 20, I had a degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance. By 22, I'd earned an LL.M. in international taxation. I was admitted to the bar at 24. I've never cashed a paycheck in my life. I went straight into business right out of school, and my practice was growing.
I was building exactly the career I'd envisioned. Then life threw something at me I never saw coming.
From 1999 to 2000, when I was 20, I accompanied my father on several business trips to Europe. He was someone I believed to be a legitimate businessman, and he often brought one of his sons along. During these trips, he asked me to translate documents and draft correspondence in German, which I speak fluently.
What I didn't know was that my father was using those documents to perpetuate a multimillion-dollar fraud.
I began to develop suspicions when his colleagues started being questioned by authorities, but I continued to assist him out of fear. Disloyalty to my father carried harsh consequences. I didn't fully understand the scope of what he'd done until 2003, when I was indicted and handed boxes of discovery to read.
I wasn't the target. My father was. But the government tried to use me as leverage. They told him they'd indict me unless he agreed to a plea deal. He turned them down and told me I was on my own.
At 25, I was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to money launder. I was terrified. Everything I'd built was at risk.
In 2005, I pled guilty. It's a decision I regret. I continued to assist my father not because I intended to commit a crime, but because I was under duress. Disloyalty carried consequences I wasn't prepared to face at that age. After the trial, I had the chance to speak with jurors. Every one of them said they would not have convicted me. But I was 26, terrified, and facing the full weight of the federal government alone. I took the deal. I was sentenced to five years of probation and eventually disbarred, despite the disciplinary counsel recommending the lowest possible sanction.
I could have let that define me. Instead, I channeled it.
I immediately focused on building an international tax and wealth planning advisory practice, one informed by the firsthand understanding of what it feels like to be in the crosshairs of a government that doesn't care whether you're innocent.
That experience gave me something no textbook ever could: an intimate understanding of the stakes. When I advise clients on protecting their assets, their families, and their freedom, it's not abstract. I know exactly what's on the line.
Then, in 2013, the government came at me again. The IRS opened an investigation, falsely accusing me of practicing law before the IRS.
This time, I fought.
I went on the offensive and sued them in federal district court, seeking a permanent injunction and declaratory judgment. And I won. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only person who holds a permanent injunction against the IRS.
The victory was so decisive that the court ordered the IRS to pay my attorney's fees, a remedy only awarded when you prove the government's position was without justification.
These experiences didn't just shape my career. They shaped my philosophy.
Governments are not looking out for your best interests. You need someone in your corner who understands that and who has the experience and conviction to help you plan accordingly.
Even when it's hard. Especially when it's hard.
I built my own multinational business. I put my own wealth into the structures I recommend. I expatriated from the US myself. When I tell a client a strategy works, it's because I've used it, not because I read about it in a journal.
Every piece of advice I give is informed by these principles. They're not marketing. They're what I've learned the hard way.
Over the past two decades, I've become a recognized expert in international tax and wealth planning. I've spoken before the United Nations, the American Chamber of Commerce, and eBay. I've consulted with governments on designing their trust and foundation laws. I've successfully lobbied governments to change their laws for the benefit of my clients. I write regularly for Bloomberg Tax and have been published and quoted by Forbes, CNN, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
I serve as Chairman of the International Business Structuring Association's Middle East Chapter. I've lived in Dubai since 2015, and I work with some of the world's wealthiest families and most sophisticated private companies.
But what I'm most proud of is simpler than any credential: my clients trust me. They come back. They refer their friends and family. And many of them have become genuine friends, people I'd choose to spend time with whether or not we ever did business together.
That's the practice I've built. And I wouldn't trade the path that got me here.
