A US court in New York has charged four partners and former partners of the Big 4
accounting giant Ernst & Young (E&Y) with conspiracy to defraud.
Between 1998 and 2004, the accused allegedly set up tax shelters based on fake scenarios for clients with incomes over $10 million.
Martin Nissenbaum, 51, the firm's national director of personal income
tax and retirement planning and tax partner Richard Shapiro, 58, still work for E&Y, but are on administrative leave.
Robert Coplan, 54, and Brian Vaughn, 39 no longer work for the firm, which has not been named in the charges.
If the men are convicted, they all face the prospect of over a decade in prison.
E&Y claimed that it had given full cooperation in the lawsuit and that it would continue to do so.
In September, 16 partners and managers at KPMG will stand trial for allegedly attempting to defraud the US government out of $2.5 billion by marketing fake tax shelters to affluent clients.
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