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In the Courts

By Matthew J. Alexander and Christian E. Izaguirre
December 26, 2012

Second Circuit Reverses Convictions of Two Ernst & Young Tax Attorneys

On Nov. 29, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, reversed the fraud conspiracy convictions of two Ernst & Young LLP (E&Y) tax attorneys ' Richard Shapiro and Martin Nissenbaum ' because of insufficient evidence. United States v. Coplan, — F.3d —, 2012 WL 5954654 (2d. Cir. Nov. 29, 2012). These convictions stemmed from actions related to the development and defense of five tax shelters that were sold or implemented by E&Y between 1999 and 2001. Id. at *1. After an IRS audit, several E&Y employees and an investment adviser were charged with, and eventually plead guilty to or were convicted of, a variety of tax-related crimes. Id. at *1-4. While the Second Circuit addressed a host of issues on appeal, the two principal issues discussed in detail below were: 1) The scope of criminal liability under 18 U.S.C. section 371; and 2) the sufficiency of the evidence with respect to the conspiracy convictions of Nissenbaum and Shapiro.

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