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Four E&Y partners convicted of promoting fraudulent shelters

May 08, 2009

Four partners of national accounting firm Ernst & Young now face federal prison after being convicted yesterday of promoting fraudulent tax shelters. The members of the now-disbanded E&Y "VIPER" group were convicted on an indictment that involved "Contingent Deferred Swap" and "COBRA" transactions. These transactions involved offsetting option or currency positions to provide tax benefits without anything really happening economically, other than fees to accountants and lawyers.

The indictment said the Jenkens & Gilchrist law firm was involved in the COBRA transactions. This can't be reassuring for others involved in the Jenkens deals.

The TaxProf has a roundup.

Tags: Ernst and Young.tax crime.tax shelters.