Ex-Freshfields partner gets 3.5-year sentence in German tax fraud

His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. Johannemann's former employer Freshfields said ahead of the decision that it would not comment on the verdict and that it was "not a party" to the case.

A former partner of Freshfields was sentenced on Tuesday to three years and six months for his role in a multibillion-euro German tax fraud scheme that has ensnared scores of domestic and global banks and hundreds of individuals.

Prosecutors accused the tax lawyer, Ulf Johannemann, of assisting a client in tax evasion and pushed for a sentence of 5.5 years. In the scheme, known as "cum-ex" or dividend stripping, banks and investors would swiftly trade shares of companies around their dividend payout day, blurring stock ownership and allowing multiple parties to falsely reclaim tax rebates on dividends.

The loophole that allowed the trading to thrive between 2005 and 2012 is now closed, but a lengthy investigation has taken on vast dimensions as courts and officials try to hold wrongdoers to account and claw back an estimated 10 billion euros ($11 billion) lost from government coffers. Johannemann's legal team argued he should get probation, saying he was not an accomplice in helping the client evade taxes nor did he act with direct intent, according a report from the legal website Juve. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Johannemann's former employer Freshfields said ahead of the decision that it would not comment on the verdict and that it was "not a party" to the case. "We continue to work with the authorities, within the boundaries of our professional obligations, in an effort to learn from and draw a line under these matters," the firm said. ($1 = 0.9231 euros)