TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - A Tyler man has been indicted on numerous tax fraud charges by the U.S. government.

Thomas Weickgenant, along with three other people named in the indictment who live in North Texas, promoted and sold a fraudulent trust scheme that was used to shelter more than $1. 5 billion of income, causing an estimated tax loss to the IRS of more than $200 million, according to the Office of Public Affairs of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Thomas Weickgenant of Tyler(Smith County Jail)Weickgenant, along with Duncan John MacDonald, Sarah Duren, and Richard Ronald Cayce, allegedly sold clients the tax shelter for fees that often exceeded $100,000 by fraudulently telling clients that they could assign their income to sham trusts to defer paying taxes in perpetuity, all while continuing to enjoy the benefit and control over their assets and income, the IRS reported.