Burton Kanter

Burton Kanter  (lawyer)
Born	12 August 1930 Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
Died	October 31, 2001 (Age 71)
Cause of death	cancer
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Founder of	Castle Bank & Trust
"One of Chicago's most prominent-and controversial-tax attorneys"

Burton W. Kanter was "one of Chicago's most prominent-and controversial-tax attorneys". He was a tax attorney, who handled a lot of rich people's money.

Background

Kanter got a law degree at the University of Chicago (Bachelor of Arts, 1951. Juris Doctor, 1952). He was a Teaching Associate in Indiana University Law School from 1952-1954. He joined the staff of the University of Chicago Law School in 1985. He was an Attorney-Advisor of the Tax Court of the United States from 1954-1956.

Career

Kanter was a senior editor of the Journal of Taxation.

Lagal cases

He was acquitted in 1977 of a criminal conspiracy to avoid taxes on the profits from the $9.1-million sale of a Nevada apartment building, in connection with the Castle Bank & Trust. His law partner at the time, Roger Baskes was sentenced to two years in prison for the same charge.

Kanter was due to be tried in U.S. Tax Court in Chicago in 1994 "to defend almost 10 years worth of transactions, with more than $10 million in back taxes and penalties at stake."

In December 1999 he was ruled to have been "the architect" of a long-running kickback and tax-evasion scheme which siphoned money from funds managed by the Prudential and Travelers insurance companies. Judge Couvillion wrote in his 606-page decision that "What we have here, purely and simply, is a concerted effort by an experienced tax lawyer and two corporate executives to defeat and evade payment of taxes and to cover up their acts."

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