A lawyer in Winnetka has pleaded guilty on charges of conspiracy and tax evasion for helping wealthy clients set up tax shelters that allowed them to fraudulently claim almost $7 billion in tax losses, Winnetka Talk reports.

Erwin Mayer has admitted to the New York court that he helped design, market, implement and defend fraudulent shelters while we was a partner at Altheimer & Gray in Chicago from 1994 to 1998 and was part of Jenkins & Gilchrist in Texas from 1996 to 2004. He reportedly built tax shelters that enabled high net worth clients to eliminate and reduce taxes on significant incomes or gains.

According to a release from the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, Mayer and others at J&G, besides taking a percentage from the losses generated, assisted in implementing all stages of tax shelters, including setting up bank accounts and entitlements. His co-defendants, Charles Bee Jr, Michael Kerekes, Adrian Dicker, Robert Greisman, and Mark Bloom, all former partners or officers at BDO Seidman, also pleaded guilty to related charges. Their trial is scheduled for 28 February 2011.

Mayer faces a maximum of five years in jail for conspiracy and another five years on evasion. He has also agreed to forfeit his two residences, along with bank and investment accounts with over 10 million. He will be sentenced on 10 February 2011.