IRS IN THE SPOTLIGHT : Colleague Defends Trattner’s Amnesty Deal

Richard J. Trattner, the Sherman Oaks attorney accused by congressional investigators of concocting a tax amnesty “scheme” with a former Internal Revenue Service official, is described by at least one of his colleagues as a smart, honest lawyer who simply came up with a better way to represent his clients.

“He is a credible person, and I’ve not heard anyone speak badly of him,” said Mark D. Pastor, an Encino-based tax attorney who was a law partner of Trattner from 1974 to 1978.

Trattner, 55, a graduate of the Whittier College School of Law, worked for the IRS’ criminal investigation division in Los Angeles for 10 years, from 1962 to 1972, first as an agent, then as a group manager. He then served for two years as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

In private practice, he has specialized in white-collar crime cases, primarily tax fraud. In recent years, he has defended several defense subcontractors that were facing tax charges for overbilling the Air Force on the B-1 bomber project. He also represented C. Arnholt Smith in the U.S. National Bank failure in San Diego in 1973.

“I’ve known him (Trattner) since 1964,” Pastor said. “I know he was considered a very fine special agent with the IRS. He is recognized as an expert in his field. He’s got a good reputation.”

Rather than “improper,” Pastor called Trattner’s voluntary disclosure program “innovative, on the cutting edge.”

“He developed the technique; it’s the first time it’s ever been done. But it’s perfectly legal.”

In an interview Wednesday, Trattner cited an article he wrote for the Los Angeles County Bar Journal on the IRS’ voluntary disclosure policy that, he said, formed one of the bases for a subsequent treatise for defense lawyers on tax fraud.

“My voluntary disclosure program was made out to be some sort of heinous plot against the revenue service, and the judgment of the committee staff was I ought to be shot for all the things I’m doing here,” Trattner said. “All of this is a complete fabrication.”