Florida man blames Holocaust for crime

(JTA) —A South Florida man who hid $10 million in offshore accounts did it because his Holocaust survivor parents taught him to “hide and hoard,” his lawyer said.

Jack Barouh, 65, of Golden Beach, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for tax evasion. A former watchmaker who sold his luxury watch manufacturing and distributing company in 2004 for $50 million, Barouh hid $6 million in offshore accounts at UBS AG. He had been hiding money since 1976, according to reports.

His lawyer argued that Barouh had a compulsion “to establish a secret nest egg” as his parents taught him. Barouh, whose family fled from Austria during the Holocaust and moved to Colombia, reportedly received psychiatric help for his compulsion.