• 28 Jan 2011 at 10:00 AM

‘Genius’ Derivatives Trader Busted For Not So Genius Tax Evasion Scam

By

Llewllyn Connolly, allegedly 44, is a Harvard Business School alum who’s spent the last couple decades working for Wall Street firms including Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and, most recently, Swiss Re, as a managing director. He and his wife, Fay Lin, live in an apartment on Bond Street, which some of you may recognize as a New York address. Problem was, Connolly didn’t feel like paying New York City taxes, so he came up with a not terribly inventive way to avoid doing so, which involved claiming he was single and living in London.

It wasn’t a very good scam, and state auditors challenged his 2005 and 2006 returns. Feeling ballsy and seriously not wanting to give the government any money, Connolly again claimed to be a bachelor living across the pond for his 2007 returns. He was again challenged and this time put a little effort into creating fake receipts for stays at the Gramercy Hotel. You know, to give the London-residence lie some legitimacy.

Unfortunately, the jig was up! Knowing it was only a matter of time before he was headed dowtown, Connolly pleaded guilty Wednesday two two felonies for dodging a $1 million in taxes. In order to stay out of prison, he has to pay $2.6 million in back taxes and penalties, plus $350,000 in fines and do 300 hours of community services. According to his lawyer, he’s “volunteered to tutor former inmates in computer, math and science skills.”

Trader Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud [NYDN]

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Comments (46)

  1. 1
    Posted by Anonymous | January 28, 2011 at 3:26 PM

    Don’t drink and derive!

  2. 2
    Posted by Luka01 | January 28, 2011 at 3:44 PM

    Surely this is another Turbo Tax glitch. I say he should get the same treatment as the top dog at the IRS.

  3. 3
    Posted by popcornready | January 28, 2011 at 3:44 PM

    Anyone with that many L’s in his name is an asshole

  4. 4
    Posted by T_Geithner | January 28, 2011 at 3:45 PM

    His first mistake, not using TurboTax.

  5. 5
    Posted by Amychua | January 28, 2011 at 3:53 PM

    His wife’s Chinese mom put him up to it

  6. 6
    Posted by Guestofaguest | January 28, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    Really? What’s the most you ever lost in a coin toss?

  7. 7
    Posted by Guestofaguest | January 28, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    Really? What’s the most you ever lost in a coin toss?

  8. 8
    Posted by Guest | January 28, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    This is what passes for genius these days?

  9. 9
    Posted by Guest | January 28, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    This is what passes for genius these days?

  10. 10
    Posted by Details | January 28, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    er, you mean the US Treasury?

  11. 11
    Posted by Details | January 28, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    er, you mean the US Treasury?

  12. 12
    Posted by Details | January 28, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    er, you mean the US Treasury?

  13. 13
    Posted by Details | January 28, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    er, you mean the US Treasury?

  14. 14
    Posted by Details | January 28, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    er, you mean the US Treasury?

  15. 15
    Posted by Details | January 28, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    er, you mean the US Treasury?

  16. 16
    Posted by Details | January 28, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    er, you mean the US Treasury?

  17. 17
    Posted by bernie m | January 28, 2011 at 4:22 PM

    Been there, did not like it.

    Benie Madoff

  18. 18
    Posted by bernie m | January 28, 2011 at 4:22 PM

    Been there, did not like it.

    Benie Madoff

  19. 19
    Posted by Guest | January 28, 2011 at 4:24 PM

    keep going, you’ll get to it….

  20. 20
    Posted by Guest | January 28, 2011 at 4:24 PM

    keep going, you’ll get to it….

  21. 21
    Posted by Guest | January 28, 2011 at 4:24 PM

    keep going, you’ll get to it….

  22. 22
    Posted by Guest | January 28, 2011 at 4:24 PM

    keep going, you’ll get to it….

  23. 23
    Posted by Guest | January 28, 2011 at 4:27 PM

    i got 99 problems…

  24. 24
    Posted by Just Curious | January 28, 2011 at 4:32 PM

    CFA or MBA?

  25. 25
    Posted by Former Aquila Genius | January 28, 2011 at 4:35 PM

    It’s supposed to be called “intellectual capital”.

  26. 26
    Posted by guestofaguest'sguest | January 28, 2011 at 4:40 PM

    It’s been traveling twenty-two years to get here. And now it’s here. And it’s either heads or tails, and you have to say. Call it.

  27. 27
    Posted by AIGQ | January 28, 2011 at 4:43 PM

    I think it’s interesting he lived on “Bond” Street and the returns in question were for ’07″. He must have been a Matt Helm fan, LOL!

    -AIG Quant

  28. 28
    Posted by OCD Analyst | January 28, 2011 at 4:53 PM

    “Connolly pleaded guilty Wednesday (two) two felonies for dodging a $1 million”

    (two) should be “to”.

    - Your friendly neighbourhood OCD analyst

  29. 29
    Posted by Senator B Frank | January 28, 2011 at 4:58 PM

    Jail time? Fines? Penalties? I thought the standard punishment for this was a 30 second insincere finger wagging administered by your co-workers….

  30. 30
    Posted by Senator B Frank | January 28, 2011 at 5:00 PM

    I just wish they had given me the option of prison. They make federal prison sound FABULOUS in Office Space.

  31. 31
    Posted by Senator B Frank | January 28, 2011 at 5:00 PM

    I just wish they had given me the option of prison. They make federal prison sound FABULOUS in Office Space.

  32. 32
    Posted by ButtAroma | January 28, 2011 at 5:03 PM

    Hire this man!

    Kidder Peabody & Mooney

  33. 33
    Posted by Wondering | January 28, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Do you guys think the half watermelon he’s smuggling out of the courthouse under his hat is seedless?

  34. 34
    Posted by SJFee | January 28, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    How did DE Shaw not ever hire this guy?

  35. 35
    Posted by Mjncca | January 28, 2011 at 6:20 PM

    Like the hat. Looks like he stole it off a homeless guy aka former BSC CMBS trader.

  36. 36
    Posted by Duh | January 28, 2011 at 6:24 PM

    He couldn’t just move to Hoboken?

  37. 37
    Posted by Clown Capital | January 28, 2011 at 6:27 PM

    “Someone needs to get down on ma’ Johnson!” – Liam, Trueblood

  38. 38
    Posted by Gozer | January 28, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    Jay Cutler is a derivatives trader?

  39. 39
    Posted by Millyprop | January 28, 2011 at 7:21 PM

    I see it! Not only do they both have fugly mugs; but they Lwey there shares a knack for getting sacked too.

  40. 40
    Posted by Guest | January 28, 2011 at 7:30 PM

    anyone possessing volumes of money spelled with that many ‘”L”s is an asshole.

    -Guy Who Has No Money Like That, Dammit

  41. 41
    Posted by Jmoney | January 28, 2011 at 8:31 PM

    Wife a cardiologist/asst professor at weil cornell college of med????

  42. 42
    Posted by Jmoney | January 28, 2011 at 8:31 PM

    Wife a cardiologist/asst professor at weil cornell college of med????

  43. 43
    Posted by Chim Richolds | January 28, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    Word, huge noggin. Just imagine the computational power of a dome of that size. He must trade really complex derivatives. Like interest rate swaps.

  44. 44
    Posted by WB | January 29, 2011 at 12:44 AM

    That’s more like ‘Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius’

    - Meep, Meep

  45. 45
    Posted by Anonymous | January 29, 2011 at 12:44 AM

    some people choose to contribute to society

  46. 46
    Posted by Finn Alexander | January 29, 2011 at 7:29 PM

    Stop knocking this guy. He was always awesome in Pinky and the Brain cartoons.

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