USA v. Lewis et al

  1. November 04, 2024

    Ga. Tax Preparer Gets 28 Months In $5M Tax Scheme

    A Georgia accountant was sentenced to more than two years in prison for his role in promoting syndicated conservation easements that resulted in a $5 million tax loss to the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

  2. October 16, 2024

    2 CPAs Get 20 Months For Roles In $1.3B Tax Shelter Scheme

    Two certified public accountants were each sentenced in Georgia federal court to nearly two years in prison for selling tens of millions of dollars in false tax deductions to their rich clients as part of a $1.3 billion tax fraud scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

  3. June 14, 2024

    Ga. CPA Admits To Role In $1.3B Tax Fraud Scheme

    After a federal jury convicted two of his co-conspirators in a landmark conservation easement tax shelter trial last year, a Georgia accountant who'd previously denied culpability elected to change course Friday and plead guilty to two felony charges.

  4. March 29, 2024

    Atty Called A Flight Risk In $1.3 Billion Tax Fraud Case

    An attorney serving a 23-year prison sentence for tax fraud in a $1.3 billion conservation easement scheme is a flight risk and should remain in federal custody while he waits for his appeal, the government told a Georgia federal court Friday.

  5. January 09, 2024

    71-Year-Old CPA Sentenced To 25 Years In $1.3B Tax Case

    An accountant blamed by federal prosecutors for pioneering the use of conservation easements as illegal tax shelters was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday following his conviction on all counts of a $1.3 billion tax fraud scheme that drew the first criminal prosecution of its kind.

  6. January 08, 2024

    Feds Want Decades For Atty, CPA Convicted In $1.3B Tax Case

    An attorney and an accountant found guilty by a jury of selling $1.3 billion in fraudulent tax deductions in connection with conservation easements should spend decades behind bars, federal prosecutors told a Georgia federal court in advance of their Tuesday sentencing hearings.

  7. November 14, 2023

    Ga. Appraiser Gets 1 Year For Role In $1.3B Easement Scheme

    A Georgia appraiser received a one-year prison sentence Tuesday for his role in a landmark $1.3 billion scheme to falsely inflate property values and cash in on nearly half a billion dollars in fraudulent tax deductions.

  8. September 22, 2023

    Accountant, Atty Convicted In $1.3B Tax Case In Georgia

    A Georgia jury found two men guilty on Friday of conspiring to defraud the government by promoting a scheme that sold $1.3 billion in fraudulent tax deductions in connection with conservation easements, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  9. September 19, 2023

    Judge Keeps Jurors Accused Of Racial Bias In $1.3B Tax Case

    A juror accused by another of planning to find three men guilty of conspiring to promote a $1.3 billion conservation easement tax scheme because they are "rich, white and entitled" may remain on the jury and continue deliberations, a Georgia federal judge said Tuesday.

  10. August 15, 2023

    Appraiser Charged In $1.3B Easement Scheme Seeks Mistrial

    An appraiser on trial on charges of helping carry out a $1.3 billion easement scheme asked a Georgia federal judge Tuesday to declare a mistrial, saying another appraiser, who pled guilty in the tax scheme, was wrongly allowed to offer evidence against him.