ATLANTA,GA
DULUTH, GA
When improprieties occur with hedge funds, the hedge funds’ lack of transparency and dearth of disclosure obligations make violations of the law difficult to uncover. Sometimes, persons in the hedge fund industry report those abuses through the IRS Whistleblower Program, as some of our IRS Whistleblower clients have done.
Nonetheless, the hedge fund industry remains cloaked in secrecy, frustrating experts who now seek to gauge the impact of hedge funds on the current financial crisis.
(more…)When the Wall Street “bailout” grew with Congress’ creation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Sen. Chuck Grassley emphasized the importance of “whistleblowers” and the False Claims Act to protecting these taxpayer funds from fraud and abuse.
Tonight, the House added to the bailout by passing the economic stimulus package, HR 1, and approved an amendment adding whistleblower protection for federal employees.
(more…)Financial fraud is a frequent topic of whistleblower cases and of this whistleblower lawyer blog, especially with TARP and the Wall Street “bailout” dominating headlines.
Senators Chuck Shumer and Richard Shelby have proposed a bipartisan bill to bolster federal resources to combat securities fraud and accounting fraud, the Supplemental Anti-Fraud Enforcement (“SAFE”) Markets Act.
Here are excerpts from the Senators’ announcement:
“Our white collar crime divisions are under-staffed, under-funded, and overwhelmed,” Schumer said. “When a wave of violent crime sweeps through a city,
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As our government hemorrhages its taxpayers’ funds to “bail out” firms that made poor decisions–such as American International Group (AIG), Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and American Express–a just-issued report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) raises a disturbing question: have many of the same firms already been avoiding paying their “fair share” of U.S. taxes by using offshore tax “havens”?
If so, whistleblowers will be performing a civic duty by reporting any tax evasion and noncompliance through the IRS Whistleblower Program.
(more…)Offshore tax evasion and international tax avoidance schemes have been priorities of the IRS and its IRS Whistleblower Program, as our whistleblower lawyer blog has followed repeatedly.
This week, the U.S. prosecution of the former head of UBS AG’s wealth management business, Raoul Weil, took a strange turn as he failed to surrender himself and was declared a fugitive. Weil allegedly conspired to help 17,000 American taxpayers conceal approximately $20 billion of assets in Swiss accounts, to avoid payment of U.S. taxes.
(more…)The IRS Large and Midsize Business Division (LMSB) has published a new memorandum on how it will handle IRS Whistleblower claims, the process for citizens to report tax fraud, tax evasion, and other tax noncompliance–and share in the government’s recovery of money. (https://www.irs.gov/pub/foia/ig/lmsb/lmsb-4-1108-052.pdf).
The LMSB Division has responsibility over corporations, subchapter S corporations, and partnerships with assets greater than $10 million. This IRS Division is divided by industry groups, including (1) Communications, Technology, and Media; (2) Financial Services; (3) Heavy Manufacturing and Transportation;
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Much criticism has flowed from how the first $350 billion in TARP “bailout” funds are being used. Thus far, the need for additional restrictions to prevent and penalize fraud and abuse of TARP money remains unmet.
In response, yesterday House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank proposed legislation establishing greater limits on use of TARP funds, among other things.
The “TARP Reform and Accountability Act of 2009” (HR 384) would require quarterly reports from recipients on their use of TARP funds, restrict the use of
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With tax season approaching, the IRS has alerted the public to “tax preparer fraud” by issuing issued a “fact sheet” (at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=202123,00.html). The IRS also has attached information about reporting abusive tax schemes through the IRS Whistleblower Program, which provides rewards to whistleblowers.
Interestingly, the IRS has included descriptions of some of the tax fraud and tax evasion schemes that have caused courts to issue “more than 290 permanent injunctions against abusive tax scheme promoters and abusive return preparers since 2001.”
The summary by the IRS is reprinted below:
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The Treasury Department last week issued its December 2008 report to Congress on what it has done with the “bailout” funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and Capital Purchase Program (CPP). With more than 200 institutions receiving taxpayer money, an overriding question is how to prevent and redress the inevitable fraud and abuse of TARP and other taxpayer funds, through whistleblowers and other means.
Treasury reported that, as of December 31, 2008, it had invested $177.5 billion in more than 200 U.S. financial institutions. As discussed previously on the whistleblower lawyer blog, Treasury recounted its announced assistance to General Motors and GMAC, as part of the Automotive Industry Financing Program (AIFP).
(more…)The TARP bailout funding continues, as the Treasury Department announced today that it will buy $5 billion in senior preferred equity with an 8% dividend from GMAC LLC.
Senator Charles Grassley has emphasized that TARP and other “bailout” funds must be protected through whistleblower protections and whistleblower laws such as the False Claims Act. The GMAC announcement today will present ample opportunities to test those premises on which Congress approved the bailout funding.
The Treasury announcement is reprinted below:
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For many years, Michael Sullivan of our firm and his colleague Jim Breen have organized the “Whistleblower Law Symposium.” It has consistently received high marks from participants.
This year’s Symposium will be available either in-person or online on Wednesday, March 13, starting at 815 am EDT. It offers 7.5 CLE hours, including 1 Ethics hour and 4 Trial Practice hours. Cost is $279.
You can register (and see the full Agenda) here: atlantabar.org/…. Topics include:
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After reporting on the SEC’s investigation and findings of 20 years of “misstatements” by the LDS Church and Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc., the Wall Street Journal‘s Jonathan Weil again reports on facts revealed by our SEC and IRS whistleblower submissions on behalf of our client, David Nielsen. Mr. Nielsen exposed violations of law relating to a what he called a “clandestine hedge fund” affiliated with the Mormon Church, in his recent appearance on 60 Minutes.
Turning to IRS violations, this WSJ article addresses in part why, “[o]n its 2007 return, Ensign Peak put down ‘1,000,000’ for its total assets. The real number was about $38 billion, an Ensign Peak document shows.”
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Regarding this past Sunday’s 60 Minutes interview of our client David Nielsen,
Mormon blows whistle on church’s alleged “clandestine hedge fund”
(https://www.cbsnews.com/60-minutes/ ):
Please see attached Statement,
which is also reprinted below.
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On Sunday, May 14, 60 Minutes featured an interview with our IRS and SEC whistleblower client David Nielsen.
My colleague Richard Rubin and I are proud to represent this principled whistleblower.
#cbs #60minutes #whistleblower #finchmccranie #secwhistleblower #irswhistleblower #ensignpeak
(more…)FATCA is being implemented in a number of countries outside the U.S., with the result that U.S. individuals who hold foreign bank or financial accounts and have not disclosed these accounts in the U.S., are about to be reported to the IRS.
(This post is by our colleague Richard Rubin of Rubin Law (www.rubinlaw.us), a tax attorney with significant experience in U.S. cross-border matters, including FATCA and U.S. international compliance.)
Bank accounts in countries outside the U.S. can cause headaches when owned by U.S. taxpayers. While owning foreign accounts has always entailed a reporting headache for U.S. taxpayers, the problem has recently heightened as a result of the FATCA legislation that is being implemented in a number of countries outside the U.S.
(more…)The just-released FY 2013 IRS Whistleblower Office Annual Report reveals clues to what the future holds for tax whistleblowers.
Steve Whitlock, Director of the IRS Whistleblower Office, gave a preview last Fall. Listening to an audience react enthusiastically to his SEC counterpart Sean McKessy discuss awarding more than $14 million to a whistleblower, Whitlock wryly observed that the IRS had “only” awarded $50 million to whistleblowers in FY 2013.
To those who follow the IRS Whistleblower Program closely, Whitlock’s comment was a rare moment to
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Another shoe dropped for offshore tax evaders today, in an encouraging sign for the IRS Whistleblower Office.
A Liechtenstein bank avoided prosecution by agreeing to turn over files on 200 U.S. customers and to pay $23.8 million for assisting U.S. taxpayers in opening and maintaining undeclared bank accounts from 2001 through 2011.
Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG (LLB-Vaduz) helped a significant number of U.S. taxpayers hide these offshore accounts, evade U.S. taxes, and file false tax returns with the IRS, according to today’s announcement.
The Justice Department
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When New York amended its state False Claims Act in 2010, it broke new ground by including tax whistleblower cases. New York’s decision to attract tax whistleblowers bore fruit when the NY Supreme Court recently ruled that New York’s $100 million tax whistleblower case against Sprint-Nextel Corp. may proceed.
If successful, this case may net New York three times the more than $100 million in unpaid taxes that the state alleges Sprint has failed to pay its state and local governments. It may also bring the whistleblower 15%-25% of what the state recovers.
The N.Y. Supreme Court first rejected Sprint’s arguments that the N.Y. Tax Law did not require payment of the sales tax in question. The Court allowed the case to proceed.
(more…)Now is the time to tell the story of Bob Gardner. Bob retires this week after 37 years of service with the IRS, most recently with the IRS Whistleblower Office.
Bob understands that public service is a noble calling for so many in our government. He epitomizes all that is good in fairly administering our internal revenue laws.
When IRS Whistleblower Office Director Steve Whitlock began hiring for the first “tax whistleblower” office that Congress had authorized in late 2006, Bob Gardner was
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Could the IRS and Treasury Department have done a worse job in how they have handled the alleged “targeting” of conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status before the 2012 elections?
My criticism starts–but does not end–with any IRS personnel who singled out “Tea Party” and similar groups for extra scrutiny based on their political affiliations. Any such acts cannot be tolerated..
But less noticed is what was being done–or not done–since at least mid-2012 by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (“TIGTA”).
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