Rejecting the argument that the KPMG tax shelter scandal was the result of the “gray” world of a tax code that is always open to gaming and subjective interpretation, Southern District of New York Judge Lewis A. Kaplan Wednesday denied leniency for the three men convicted in the case.
Kaplan sentenced investment advisors and former senior KPMG executives John Larson and Robert Pfaff to serve 10 years and one month and eight years and one month in prison, respectively. The judge also ordered former Brown & Wood partner Raymond Ruble to 6 1/2 years in prison for his role in giving opinion letters that endorsed the shelters and helped KPMG’s wealthiest clients claim bogus losses to offset their massive capital gains.
