Stein and Corey Agee Plead Guilty to Promoting Syndicated Conservation Easement Tax Scheme Involving More Than $1.2 Billion in Fraudulent Charitable Deductions

Bill of Information

According to The United States Department of Justice

Stern Agee and Corey Agee both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. They also face a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

From at least 2013 through 2019, Stern Agee and Corey Agee, then partners at [Agee Fisher Barrett LLC], marketed, promoted, and sold together with co-conspirators, investments in fraudulent syndicated conservation easement (SCE) tax shelters. The SCE tax shelters were designed to produce tax deductions for high-income taxpayers through partnerships that purported to make “real estate investments.” In truth, the partnerships were a sham, lacking economic substance and serving no legitimate business purpose. The placement of conservation easements over the real estate was a foregone conclusion, which fraudulently enabled the investors to shelter their income from the IRS with no economic risk and to claim substantial tax deductions to which they were not entitled. S. Agee, C. Agee, and their co-conspirators marketed the SCE tax shelters by promising investors that for every $1 invested in the partnership, the investor would receive more than $4 in charitable tax deductions.

“The defendants’ and their co-conspirators' criminal conduct enabled their clients to claim more than $1.2 billion in fraudulent tax deductions and generated hundreds of millions of dollars of tax loss to the United States,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department's Tax Division. “Their convictions signal just the beginning of the department’s prosecutive efforts. Taxpayers engaging in such schemes, and the lawyers, accountants, appraisers and other professionals that enable them, should understand that they will be held fully to account for their fraudulent conduct.”

“Two defendants pleaded guilty today in the first-ever criminal case by IRS-CI involving conservation easements,” said Commissioner Charles Rettig of the IRS. “It should be considered the next step in the IRS’ battle against abusive SCEs. The defendants and their co-conspirators used conservation easement donations to personally enrich themselves and allow wealthy tax clients to evade their tax obligations. The charges and guilty pleas demonstrate that participation in abusive SCEs will not be tolerated. Once again, the IRS recommends that anyone who participated in an abusive SCE consult independent counsel about coming into compliance.”

According to court documents, Stern Agee and Corey Agee additionally solicited investors after the end of the tax year and advised them to backdate payments and documents to make it appear that the “investments” were timely made before the end of the tax year. S. Agee and C. Agee also prepared and assisted in the preparation of false tax returns for clients who agreed to invest in the SCE shelters. In exchange for their promotion of the abusive SCE tax shelters, between 2013 and 2019, Stern Agee and Corey Agee each received more than $1.7 million in commissions.

If You Invested in a Conservation Easement Sold by Stein and Corey Agee or Agee Fisher Barrett, LLC, You May Have Lost a Substantial Amount of Money

Contact us Today if You Invested in Any Conservation Easement Sold by Stein and Corey Agee, including:

• Inland Capital Investment Fund 2013

• Southern Appalachian Investment Fund 2014

• Coastal Properties Holdings LLC

• Inland Capital Appalachian Fund 2015

• Coastal Community Partners

• Southeast Properties Acquisitions LLC