Ex-Brown & Wood Partner among Three Advisers Convicted in Tax Case
Former Brown & Wood partner Raymond Ruble was convicted of tax evasion Wednesday for writing opinion letters supporting fraudulent tax shelters.
Prosecutors claim Ruble was paid $50,000 for each opinion letter he wrote, the New York Law Journal reports. The letters said the tax shelters were likely to survive any challenge by the Internal Revenue Service.
Two former KPMG executives who formed an investment advisory firm, Robert Pfaff and John Larson, were also convicted. KPMG partner David Greenberg was acquitted. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) also carried the news.
A federal judge in Manhattan had dismissed the indictments against 13 other defendants in the case because the government had pressured KPMG to stop paying their attorney fees. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said the action violated the defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The decision was upheld on appeal.
Ruble could be sentenced to up to 50 years in jail, while the other defendants face a potential 60-year sentence, the New York Law Journal story says.
