2 attorneys on trial for allegedly defrauding state tax credit program
Two lawyers and a spouse of one of them, acting as business partners, “exploited every human being that they could” to defraud a Louisiana tax program intended to encourage expansion of the state’s film industry, a federal prosecutor told a New Orleans jury on Monday.
Defendant Michael Arata, a New Orleans lawyer and businessman, reported “wildly inflated” costs to the state for rehabilitating a decrepit city mansion into a post-production facility in order to get over $1 million in tax credits. He joked in emails to a friend about how he was charging bogus legal fees for fraudulent tax credits, assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon told the jury.
Arata and movie producers Peter and Susan Hoffman are charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud concerning false and misleading bank statements and other documents they allegedly submitted. Arata also is charged with false statements to federal investigators, according to the New Orleans Advocate and the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Defense lawyers said their clients had done nothing wrong, spending some $4 million to create a post-production facility just as they said they did.
“There’s a beautiful building sitting at 807 as we speak,” attorney Billy Gibbens told jurors, referring to the Whann-Bohn House at 807 Esplanade Avenue. “At the end of this, you going to be wondering … why the federal government is even looking at this state project.”
The Hollywood Reporter also has a story.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Actor and Hollywood producer, both lawyers, indicted over tax credits for film house rehab”
Times-Picayune: “The Whann-Bohn House near the French Quarter has a new life as a residential post-production facility for filmmakers”
