Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Four Ernst & Young Partners Charged With Conspiracy

By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post
May 30, 2007

Four current and former Ernst & Young LLP partners were charged today with conspiracy and other crimes for peddling abusive tax shelters to the accounting firm's monied clients, the latest advance in the government's largest-ever tax fraud investigation.

Ernst, one of the nation's four biggest audit firms, apparently has avoided criminal charges, but high-ranking officials, including three lawyers, face more than a decade in prison if they are convicted. ...

Each of the men worked in an Ernst unit known as VIPER, an acronym for Value Ideas Produce Extraordinary Results. They helped wealthy individuals slash or eliminate taxes they owed by creating off-the-shelf tax products that brought Ernst millions of dollars, government lawyers said. ...

Continued:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/30/AR2007053001000.html?hpid=topnews