A judge’s effort to avoid duplicative testimony and wasted time at the trial of 18 defendants accused in the KPMG illegal tax shelter has drawn the ire of defense attorneys in the case.
Lawyers for five of the defendants objected last week to procedures set forth by Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan for the five-month trial that is set to begin this fall. The trial, believed to be the largest criminal tax evasion case ever brought by the government, will focus on tax shelters designed by KPMG that prosecutors claim were intended to defraud the government of more than $2 billion.
