P.M. BRIEFING : Edelman, Floridian in Innocent Pleas

NEW YORK — Jon Edelman, a brother of takeover speculator Asher Edelman, pleaded innocent today to charges that he and a Florida businessman ran a giant illegal tax shelter scheme than generated millions of dollars in tax benefits for prominent investors.

Edelman and Bernhard Manko of Lighthouse Point, Fla., were arraigned in front of U.S. Magistrate Leonard Bernikow and released on a $500,000 bond. Manko also pleaded not guilty. In one of the largest tax fraud cases on record, Edelman, 43, of Rye, N.Y., and Manko, 48, were charged in a 32-count indictment with participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and assisting others in making false statements on tax returns. The investors were not charged in the alleged scheme.