Texas tycoon Sam Wyly and his late brother Charles’ estate should pay about $750 million in damages for their role in a fraudulent offshore tax scheme, a lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a judge in New York on Monday. “There was a decision to violate the law here, Your Honor, and that decision was made in part because Sam Wyly knew it would be profitable, even if he were caught,” Bridget Fitzpatrick said at the outset of a trial to determine the amount of damages the Wylys must pay after a jury found them liable for fraud in March. But lawyers for the Wylys have said in court papers the appropriate penalty is $1.38 million, arguing the SEC’s theory of disgorgement is unsupported by the law. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin is overseeing the nonjury trial, which is expected to last three days. A federal jury found the Wylys liable for a system of offshore trusts in the Isle of Man that netted the brothers $553 million in profits through hidden trades
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