The State - News from Aug. 27, 1987

A former Internal Revenue Service attorney was sentenced by a federal judge in San Francisco to eight years in prison and fined $250,000 for a tax shelter fraud that cost about 3,000 investors an estimated $20 million. Asst. U.S. Atty. Jay Weill said Alexander V. Laurins, 43, must pay the fine before he is released from prison. The IRS said the government was cheated out of $150 million through phony tax credits taken by investors on the advice of Laurins. Prosecutors believe Laurins has assets hidden in offshore bank accounts. Laurins was an IRS attorney for about 10 years before he launched his investment scheme.