Judge Dismisses Criminal White Collar Fraud Charges Against KPMG Former Partners

Pete Strom

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U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed the criminal charges on Monday against 13 ex-employees of KMPG, an accounting firm. The former employees were charged and arrested in connection with a tax-shelter case in which they allegedly helped the wealthy escape $2.5 billion in taxes.

The dismissed case was once referred to as the largest criminal tax case in U.S. history. Judge Kaplan dropped the charges, saying that government lawyers inappropriately interfered with the former employees' defense.

Government lawyers accused the defendants in 2005 of committing a white-collar crime. The defendants were accused of cheating the government out of $2.5 billion.

The case against most defendants began to unravel last year when Kaplan ruled that prosecutors violated their constitutional rights by pressuring KPMG to withhold legal fees.

In a statement made Monday, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia disagreed that there were constitutional violations.

As the former United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina and as a criminal defense attorney in Columbia, South Carolina, I am hopeful that the Attorney General and the courts will not interfere with a citizens' ability to defend himself in court. Due process is a fundamental right for those facing a criminal trial.