For publicity-shy mogul Leonard Green, 2002 has been one high-profile nightmare. Last month the 68-year-old founder of the West Coast’s biggest buyout firm, Leonard Green & Partners, turned up in a front-page Wall Street Journal article about an IRS crackdown on abusive tax shelters. In federal court filings the IRS listed Green as one of several prominent businessmen who had sought tax shelter advice from accounting firm KPMG, which the IRS is investigating. Although the IRS action does not imply guilt, this isn’t the first time Green has received bad publicity about his tax returns -- the IRS has also investigated Green’s returns for 1997 and 1998. At issue: the validity of a $20 million capital loss realized by a trust in the Cayman Islands. That investigation came to light during Green’s bitter, drawn-out divorce proceedings against his third wife, Jude. Public documents also show the couple fighting over two paintings, monthly allowances for furs and jewelry and use of a private jet. Green’s spousal support has been provisionally set at $63,873 a month, with no plane privileges. The Greens and their attorneys declined comment.
