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Smokin' Okun: tax scheme scammer gets 100 years in the federal slammer

By Douglas A. Berman

The feds can now add another triple-digit notch to its white-collar sentencing belt after today's sentencing of the Miami businessman Edward Okun.  This Bloomberg report provides the basics: Edward Okun, the Miami businessman convicted of stealing from customers of his tax-deferral firm, 1031 Tax Group LLC, was sentenced to 100 years in prison for running a $126 million fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Robert Payne handed down the sentence today in Richmond, Virginia, where Okun?s company was based. Prosecutors sought a sentence of 400 years, or a similar term amounting to life in prison. Jurors in March found Okun, 58, guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, smuggling and perjury following a three-week trial. ?The sentence must deter those who have access to funds of others,? Payne said...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 04, 2009 (boomark / email).