The suspensions followed complaints brought by Michael Louis Minns, a Houston lawyer who represented 124 of the tax shelter buyers, most of them airline pilots. One buyer is seeking a $6 million refund. The Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco found in January 2003 that the lawyers had defrauded the court by making a corrupt deal with a few of the pilots who bought tax shelters in the 1970's and 1980's. Under the deal, no tax-collection actions in regard to the shelters would be taken against these pilots in return for testimony that would hurt the others. (emphasis supplied.) The court called this "extreme misconduct" and asked why the I.R.S. had not disciplined the lawyers, each of whom was paid a $1,000 bonus for his work on the cases.

Mr. Minns then asked the I.R.S. in which state each was licensed so that he could seek their disbarment. The I.R.S. refused, saying disclosure of their law licenses would violate their confidentiality.