Ex-Producer Indicted in Tax Scheme

A former Hollywood record producer was indicted Wednesday on charges of producing a series of celebrity audio tapes that were used as a fraudulent tax shelter that offered investors thousands of dollars in illegal deductions.

C.W. (Buz) Wilburn, 65, of Ventura, a former senior executive for Capitol Records and former co-owner of Chelsea Records, was charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and aiding and abetting in the filing of false income tax returns.

The instructional audio tapes featured celebrities ranging from Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda to singer Pat Boone.

Two other men, Johnathan D’Orio of Akron, Ohio, and Daniel F. Schustack, 38, of New York City, have already been indicted for their roles in the alleged scheme, which authorities said bilked 1,150 investors out of more than $12.6 million by inflating the value of the tapes and promising investors inflated tax deductions.

Schustack has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax-related charges and faces sentencing on June 27.

Wilburn, whose producing credits reportedly include singers Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, Peggy Lee and Merle Haggard, allegedly hired the celebrities who made the instructional tapes and played a role in fraudulently leading investors to believe that they could take tax deductions, even before the tapes were actually finished.

According to Assistant U.S. Atty. David Katz, who is prosecuting the case, Wilburn pledged to control his production company’s studio logs to cover up the fact that the tapes were finished much later than when the deductions were promised.