A federal judge in Manhattan begrudgingly tossed out fraud charges against 13 KPMG execs today, ruling that the prosecutor illegally pressured the tax behemoth not to front their former employees' trial costs. The execs had been accused of orchestrating a scheme that helped wealthy clients evade billions of dollars in taxes.
The case had been hailed as one of the biggest tax fraud prosecutions in American history. Last month the feds asked the judge to dismiss the indictments, expecting a higher court to overrule the constitutionality issue and open up a door to appeal a ruling from last year, according to the Journal. (More constitutionality stories.)