DOJ charges Texas billionaire in $2 billion tax fraud scheme

By JANIE HAR Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged Texas billionaire Robert Brockman in a $2 billion tax fraud scheme that they say is the largest such case against an American. Department of Justice officials said at a news conference Thursday in San Francisco that 79-year-old Brockman hid the money over 20 years in a complicated scheme involving false returns and secret bank accounts. Prosecutors also charged him with investor fraud. The indictment was unsealed Thursday and Brockman is scheduled to make an appearance. Prosecutors also announced that Robert Smith will cooperate in the investigation and pay $139 million to settle a tax probe.