Tax Shelter Promoter Gets Prison: A former...

Tax Shelter Promoter Gets Prison: A former tax shelter promoter, who was convicted for his role in a scheme that generated fictitious losses of more than $1.6 billion, was sentenced to 28 months in prison. Leonard Messinger, 48, of Hillsdale, N.J. was convicted in February for running a tax fraud scheme involving prearranged and bogus transactions in Treasury bills and other securities. Fictitious losses generated by the scheme allowed clients--including CBS President Laurence Tisch, and entertainers Woody Allen and Dick Cavett--to deduct more than $225 million on their tax returns. There was no evidence that the clients did anything wrong, and they were not charged in the investigation.