Wall Street’s Fringes Draw IRS Ire Over Green ‘Tax Scam’ Sales

New York fund manager Andrew Beer got an unsolicited email offer a few months ago that sounded too good to be true -- join other investors to buy 276 acres of land in Mississippi, promise never to develop it, and get whopping tax deductions of as much as five times the amount invested.

The pitch was for what’s known as a syndicated conservation easement, a land deal that the Internal Revenue Service says is often an abusive tax shelter. The offer came from a family office with a website touting partnerships with Middle East wealth funds. As an added enticement, ...