By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former deputy chief of Russian natural gas producer Novatek was sentenced on Thursday to seven years and two months in a U.S. prison for a scheme to hide millions of dollars of income in undisclosed Swiss bank accounts and submitting a false filing.
Mark Anthony Gyetvay, who served as the chief financial officer of the Russian natural gas company, was arrested two years ago in the United States on tax charges, which he had at the time dismissed as baseless.
Gyetvay was also ordered on Thursday by a judge in Florida's Middle District to serve three years of supervised release and to pay a $350,000 fine and about $4 million in restitution to the United States, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. A federal jury convicted Gyetvay in March.
From 2005 to 2015, Gyetvay concealed his ownership and control over substantial offshore assets and did not file tax returns or pay taxes on millions of dollars of income, prosecutors said.
Gyetvay, who held passports from both the United States and Russia, had been arrested on tax charges related to $93 million hidden in offshore accounts.
He was once the leading voice at Novatek, anchoring conference calls with investors and representing the company at industry events as it seeks funds for liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.