In December, Los Angeles tax attorney Matthew Krane agreed to plead guilty to receiving $36 million in undeclared income, and to help prosecutors with their tax evasion case against former executives at Seattle investment firm Quellos Group (the Quellos investment unit was sold to BlackRock, Inc., in 2007). It was only the latest blow in the long-running investigation of Quellos, which involves six people who invested a total of $1.6 billion. One of those investors was Krane’s client, billionaire Haim Saban, who produced the popular Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television show. Saban eventually paid the U.S. government about $250 million to settle charges of tax evasion, although he denied wrongdoing.
Robert Jason, in comparison, has received relatively little notoriety. Jason, a former Kirkland & Ellis partner, made his own deal with Quellos prosecutors in Seattle last June, pleading guilty to one count of filing a false tax return, and ending, for all practical purposes, his once high-flying legal career, which included representing such entertainment industry figures as Arnold Schwarzenegger.
