The IRS might look a bit skeletal these day when compared to prior years. The agency formerly commanded a bigger budget and could routinely assign high numbers of special agents to cases involving financial crimes.
The nation’s paramount tax crimes investigatory and enforcement arm readily concedes that it is not as deep-pocketed and well-staffed as it used to be. Nonetheless, it sends out warning signals cautioning would-be wrongdoers to think twice about trying to advantage of a perceived weakness.
Here’s why. Reportedly, the agency has become more adept than ever before in employing sophisticated high-tech strategies that enable it to accurately target unlawful conduct and secure criminal convictions.
IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig recently spotlighted the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CI) and the focused work its team of select special agents does in tracking financial crimes. The unit’s estimated pool of approximately 2,100 agents was involved in nearly 2,900 cases during the most recent fiscal year.
The agency is pleased with the results. In fact, it recently noted the CI’s conviction rate of nearly 92% in matters ranging from employment fraud, tax-linked identity theft and cybercrime to public corruption, money laundering and other white collar criminal matters.
Rettig says that the CI division uses “cutting-edge technology combined with sophisticated investigative work” to optimally target its efforts. The agency relies increasingly on agents’ progressively enhanced ability to evaluate huge amounts of information.
“Data analytics is a powerful tool for identifying areas of tax non-compliance,” he says.
The stated focus and reported results of the agency’s CI division make it amply apparent that alleged white collar crime is a key investigatory focus for federal law enforcers. Targeted individuals or organizations having questions or concerns might reasonably want to contact a proven criminal defense law firm for guidance and, when necessary, diligent legal representation.