Law Practice Management
FBI Raids Offices of Well-Known Lawyer
Posted Oct 9, 2009, 12:44 pm CST
By Martha Neil
The FBI reportedly has raided the offices of a well-known attorney and accountant who often as served as a court-appointed trustee or receiver in cases in South Florida.
Relying on unidentified "legal community sources," the Daily Business Review reports that the Miami and Plantation offices of Lewis B. Freeman & Partners. The article is reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
Neither an attorney for Freeman nor the FBI would comment, according to the business publication.
The raid follows, but is apparently unrelated to, a $4.8 million civil assessment against Freeman by the Internal Revenue Service concerning a parking deduction plan that it termed an abusive tax shelter. Freeman sued the IRS in August over this matter, contending that he had a legal opinion from Greenberg Traurig that supported the program, according to the Business Review and the South Florida Business Journal.
“It’s very unusual and an extremely large fine,” tax attorney Martin Press, who works in Fort Lauderdale for the Gunster law firm, tells the Business Journal in an article published last month.
Freeman is known for his aggressive defense of clients in tax cases.