Bisnow/Ethan Rothstein
French Broad Crossing in Marshall, North Carolina, on the left bank of the French Broad River, was used as part of a land conservation tax fraud scheme by its developer, Jack Fisher.
Atlanta-based real estate developer and accountant Jack Fisher was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of running a $1.3B scheme involving fraudulent tax deductions tied to land deals and conservation donations.
His attorney and partner in the scheme, James Sinnott, was also sentenced to 23 years in Atlanta federal court on Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced.
Chief District Judge Timothy Batten handed down the sentences after a jury in September convicted Fisher and Sinnott for the scheme, in which prosecutors found the men reaped more than $40M for syndicating the fraudulent easements and selling them to other investors.
Fisher used the proceeds to buy luxury cars, a private plane and luxury homes in the U.S. and on the Caribbean island of Bonaire, all of which can be seized, the DOJ announced. Batten sentenced Fisher and Sinnott to pay restitution of nearly $500M each to cover the government’s tax losses.
The case stems from a 2022 indictment against Fisher, Sinnott and a host of other accountants and property appraisers on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, preparing false tax returns and filing false tax returns related to easement tax shelters. Fisher was also charged with several counts of money laundering.
Fisher and Sinnott were found to have acquired land and, using hand-picked appraisers, inflated their appraisals on the properties. Fisher would purchase the land and get an appraisal for as…
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