White Collar Crime
Are More Law Firms in IRS Sights in Ongoing Tax Shelter Probe?
Posted Sep 12, 2008, 06:02 pm CST
By Martha Neil
A former Arnold & Porter partner's guilty plea yesterday in a criminal case over the opinion letters he wrote about Ernst & Young tax shelters concludes the matter as far as he and the firm—which paid an undisclosed fine to avoid prosecution—are concerned.
But there may well be more action in the ongoing IRS tax shelter investigation involving lawyers at different law firms, predicts the Am Law Daily.
"Lawyers at those firms—it's unclear how many may be involved—are under investigation for doing the same thing that got [Peter] Cinquegrani into trouble: helping the richest of the rich illegally hide millions in taxable income in complex tax shelters," the law blog writes.
Meanwhile, a trial is likely later this year in the case against former Sidley Austin partner R.J. Ruble. Fired by the firm in 2003, he "earned $50,000 a pop for writing about 600 letters that gave his blessing to the illegal tax shelters," the blog recounts. Sidley avoided criminal charges by paying the IRS a $39.4 million fine.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Former Arnold & Porter Partner Pleads Guilty in Tax Shelter Case"
ABAJournal.com (2007): "Tax Shelter Probe Points to More Attys"
ABAJournal.com (2007): "Sidley Austin to Pay $39 Million"
Related Stories
- Expert Slams Court’s ‘Blame the Victim’ Response to Judge-Prosecutor Affair
45 minutes ago - Skadden Says: Yes to Associate Bonuses, No to Layoffs
1 hour, 36 minutes ago - 5 Gitmo Detainees Held Unlawfully, Federal Judge Says
2 hours, 18 minutes ago - Court Interpreter Shortages Worsen, Especially for Rare Languages
2 hours, 33 minutes ago
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Comments
Posted by anon - 2 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 14 minutes ago
What about insurance companies doing business in the U.S., using the U.S. courts, that are paying no or minimal taxes in the U.S.? One example would be ALAS, Attorneys Liability Assurance Society. It made over $70 mill in the U.S. in gross profits in 2006 but paid only $1.5 in taxes. Another example is Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency. CIRSA is not a state agency nor a municpality. Its director Tim Greer is not elected nor appointed by the governor and his compensation is not publicly disclosed. CIRSA made over $20 million in profits in the last three years and paid absolutely no federal or Colorado income taxes. It does not make federal tax exempt reports available to the public as required. It claims tax free status because it sells to governments….just like a lot of defense contractors who do pay taxes. The insurance that CIRSA sells is available thru insurance companies such as Lexington’s division of AIG.