In-House Tax Lawyer Acquitted of Filing False Return for his Ex-Employer
The former global tax manager for the Bechtel Corp. has been acquitted on charges he was responsible for a false tax return filed by the company.
A federal jury in California acquitted Mark Muntean after deliberating for slightly more than an hour, the Recorder reports. Prosecutors had claimed Muntean advocated taking a $3.3 million research and development credit even though he knew it was improper.
The Recorder calls the verdict good news for in-house lawyers and tax managers. Muntean’s lawyer, John Youngquist, told the publication that the indictment had raised questions about whether the government was criminalizing tax advice that turned out to be in error.
Youngquist maintained that Muntean had relied on information supplied by subordinates and said the tax error was later corrected. He said the government focused on Muntean as a result of a corporate probe conducted by the law firm Shearman & Sterling.
