Ex-KPMG Australia Senior Partner Avoids Prison For Being Too Stabby with a Campaign Volunteer
Even though he was convicted of two counts of common assault in court on July 4, former KPMG Australia partner Stavros “Steven” Economides was given a get-out-of-jail-free card. Economides, 62, who spent more than 30 years as a partner at KPMG, was sentenced to a 12-month good behavior bond after admitting to thrusting a corkscrew […]
Ex-KPMG Partner David Middendorf Believes He’s Been Done Wrong, Wants a Crack At a New Trial
Don’t get out those orange prison jumpsuits just yet for former KPMG partner David Middendorf and former PCAOB inspections leader Jeffrey Wada. The two men are asking a Manhattan federal court to throw out their wire fraud convictions or grant them a new trial, saying the government didn’t provide enough evidence to support the guilty […]
Ex-EY Partner Not Getting His Day in Supreme Court
Robert Coplan, one of three former EY partners who were convicted of selling illegal tax shelters that cost the government $2 billion, has had his case rejected by Supreme Court. Coplan's conviction was upheld last November by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York and he was hoping to challenge one count in front […]
Ex-CFO of Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker Faces Up to Ten Years Without PeiWei
The Department of Justice trumpeted the guilty plea of Delton de Armas, the former CFO of Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. today, marking the 8th conviction in the TBW fraud case. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer seemed pleased in the DOJ press release: “As TBW’s chief financial officer, Mr. de Armas concealed a massive […]
Ex-BDO CEO Denis Field Convicted in Tax Shelter Case
Wolf pack leader and former BDO honcho Denis Field was convicted on a variety of charges related to tax shelters that he and others provided to wealthy clients, according to several reports. This seems to mark the end to this particular case, as Denis’s colleagues all pleaded guilty back in 2009. Others convicted alongside Field included former Jenkens & Gilchrist partners Paul Daugerdas and Donna Guerin and David Parse, formerly of Deutsche Bank Alex.Brown.
New York Law Journal reports that during opening remarks, the prosecution quoted Mr Field as telling his fellow wolf packers that they would be “”swimming in a river of green” if they aggressively sold the tax shelter plans. His defense claimed that he was merely the “head showman and marketer” which sounds like a pretty lousy excuse but his lawyers stated that they will still file post-trial motions to have the verdict set aside. [WSJ, NYLJ]
Ex-KPMG Senior Manager Convicted of Selling Tax Shelters Is 50% Less Poorer Today
A win is a win and the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals handed one to John Larson, one of three defendants sentenced last year for selling illegal tax shelters. The Court “found Larson’s [$6 million] fine too high, citing a lack of jury findings to support a fine above $3 million. It returned that part of the case to the lower court to recalculate any fine.”
That’s more or less where the good news ends. The court did uphold the convictions of Larson and his two co-defendants – ex-KPMG Partner Robert Pfaff and ex-Brown & Wood partner Raymond Ruble. Larson was sentenced to a 10 year prison term last year. Pfaff received 8 years and Ruble 6-1/2 years.
Appeals court upholds KPMG tax shelter convictions [Reuters]