|
|
Posted: Tuesday, 09 June 2009 6:09PM
5 suburban residents charged in $7 billion tax fraud
|
CHICAGO (STNG) -- Federal authorities in New York City on Tuesday announced the filing of an indictment charging seven bankers, accountants and attorneys, including five from the Chicago area, with taking part in a $7 billion tax fraud conspiracy.
The defendants -- including former shareholders of the Jenkens & Gilchrist law firm, the former CEO and a former tax partner of the BDO Seidman accounting firm, and two former bankers -- are charged with tax fraud conspiracy and related crimes arising from tax shelters promoted by J&G, BDO and the bank, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.
According to the indictment filed in Manhattan federal court, the defendants and co-conspirators designed, marketed and implemented fraudulent tax shelters used by wealthy individuals with multimillion-dollar taxable income to eliminate or reduce taxes they owed the IRS.
The seven are charged with 27 separate counts, including conspiracy to defraud the IRS, tax evasion, and impeding and impairing the lawful functioning of the IRS, the release said.
Those charged, according to the release, include:
-- Paul M. Daugerdas, 58, of Wilmette, lawyer, and former head of J&G's Chicago office and its tax practice. He is a CPA who previously served as a tax partner at Arthur Andersen and head of the tax department at the Chicago law firm Altheimer & Gray.
-- Erwin Mayer, 45, of Winnetka, a lawyer and shareholder in J&G's Chicago office, is also an accountant who previously served as a tax partner in A&G's Chicago office.
-- Donna Guerin, 48, of Elmhurst, is an attorney and shareholder at J&G's Chicago office, and a CPA who served as a tax partner in A&G's Chicago office.
-- Robert Greisman, 48, of Deerfield, was a tax partner in BDO's Chicago office and a member of BDO's Tax Solutions Group. He is a CPA and an attorney.
-- David Parse, 47, of Elmhurst, is a CPA and former investment representative at Bank A's Chicago office.
Also indicted were Denis Field, 51, of Naples, Fla., former CEO and chairman of the board of BDO Seidman; and Raymond Craig Brubaker, 53, of Plano, Texas, former investment representative at the unnamed bank's office in Dallas.
From 1994 through 2004, the seven and others participated in a scheme to defraud the IRS by designing, marketing, implementing and defending fraudulent tax shelters, the indictment alleges. They sought to deceive the IRS about the bona fides of those shelters and the circumstances under which the shelters were marketed and implemented.
To that end, they allegedly created transactional documents and other materials that falsely and fraudulently described clients' motivations for entering into the shelters and for taking steps that would yield tax benefits. They also created false opinion letters to convince clients the shelters would survive IRS challenges, the indictment alleges.
The shelters reportedly generated about $7.3 billion in false and fraudulent tax losses for about 940 wealthy individuals over a period of about eight years, the indictment alleges.
Daugerdas, Mayer, Parse, Greisman, Brubaker and Field also developed and utilized tax shelters for themselves to evade personal tax liabilities on the substantial income they received from the fraudulent tax shelters, the indictment alleges.
Former BDO Seidman officials Charles W. Bee Jr., Michael Kerekes and Adrian Dicker formerly pleaded guilty to related charges including conspiracy to defraud the IRS, tax evasion and perjury, the release said.
|
Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
|
|
E-Mail Story
Print Story
