Zukerman Can't Put Off $250,000 Monthly Tax-Dodge Payments

(Bloomberg) -- Imprisoned oil industry investor Morris Zukerman must do what he avoided for years doing -- pay the government.

Zukerman has to hand over $250,000 a month to pay off his $10 million fine for tax evasion. He's serving more than five years in federal prison. A New York-based appeals court Wednesday rejected Zukerman's request to delay the payments while he appeals his sentence.

The 73-year-old, who once ran Morgan Stanley's energy investment unit, pleaded guilty in 2016 to evading $45 million in taxes, with prosecutors describing his case as one of “unmitigated greed.” U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan spared Zukerman from maximum prison time under federal guidelines, but fined him far more than the recommended upper limit of $250,000.

As part of his plea, Zukerman admitted claiming millions of dollars in bogus deductions, providing false information and documents and failing to report profits, including $28 million from the sale of a company.

James Bruton, Zukerman's lawyer with Williams & Connolly in Washington, didn't immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment on the ruling.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jef Feeley in Wilmington, Delaware at jfeeley@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Paul Cox

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