In this episode of Tax Crime Junkies, Dominique Molina and Tom Gorczynski unravel one of the largest syndicated conservation easement fraud schemes in U.S. history—an operation that generated over $1.3 billion in false tax deductions while hiding behind the language of land preservation.

What began as a seemingly noble effort to conserve rural land in North Carolina evolved into a nationwide tax shelter machine fueled by inflated appraisals, compliant professionals, and promises that sounded too good to be true because they were.

At the center of it all: CPA Jack Fisher, a trusted insider who understood the tax code well enough to exploit it.

And haunting the story to this day: Kate Joy, the investor-relations coordinator who vanished just as the federal indictments landed.

We break down how Fisher and his network:

• Turned conservation easements—a legitimate charitable tax incentive—into a mass-marketed tax shelter

• Used pre-determined appraisal values to guarantee investors a fixed 4:1 deduction ratio

• Structured partnerships to obscure land values and acquisition costs

• Paid CPAs millions in disguised commissions to promote the deals

• Expanded deductions when offerings were oversold instead of disclosing dilution

• Created paperwork that looked perfectly compliant… while hiding fraudulent intent

On paper, everything checked out. In reality, the deduction was the product.

This isn’t just a story about one bad actor.

It’s about:

• How legitimate tax incentives can be weaponized

• The ethical responsibilities of CPAs, EAs, and advisors

• The danger of “clean” paperwork masking fraudulent substance

• Why the IRS and Congress are now aggressively targeting syndicated conservation easements

And it’s a reminder that when a tax strategy requires secrecy, backdating, or “just trust us”… the ending is rarely a happy one.

In Part Two, we’ll cover:

• The federal indictments and sentences

• The IRS crackdown on syndicated conservation easements

• Congressional attempts to reform the law

• The ongoing battle between conservation, compliance, and abuse

And we’ll zoom out to answer the big question: Can conservation easements survive after schemes like this?