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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The new IRS Whistleblower Program for tax whistleblowers will be featured for the first time at the nation’s leading conference for estate planners, the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning.
The Heckerling Institute is known as the country’s “leading conference for estate planners, including attorneys, trust officers, accountants, insurance advisors, and wealth management professionals.” This is the 46th Annual Institute, named after late Professor Philip E. Heckerling, founder of the University of Miami Law School’s Estate Planning Institute. The conference will take place from
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The IRS emphasis on international and offshore tax violations continues. Today, the government made clear that U.S. prosecutions for cross-border tax evasion did not end with the 2009 landmark UBS settlement, which followed a tax whistleblower’s approaching U.S officials.
The Justice Department announced today that three more former Credit Suisse bankers have been indicted for helping U.S. taxpayers evade U.S. taxes.
Credit Suisse has been under U.S. scrutiny for at least the past year. Today’s indictments of three former officials bring to seven
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As has been reported today in Tax Notes and CCH, my colleague Richard Rubin and I addressed the IRS at its hearing yesterday on the proposed IRS Whistleblower rules. We were able to speak for roughly one-third of the hearing.
We focused on fundamentals. We urged that Treasury and the IRS must stay true to the intent of Congress to expand the number and types of IRS whistleblower claims that the IRS receives and pursues, and that merit awards to whistleblowers.
I argued
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A frequent question I receive is whether non-US citizens can receive rewards under the IRS Whistleblower Program. There is no limitation to US citizens, and persons around the world are eligible to participate in the IRS Whistleblower Program, regardless of citizenship.
Perhaps this is one reason why the May 11 hearing in DC on the IRS Whistleblower rules has attracted attention far and wide, from the India Times, to the American Banking and Market News, to the Northside Neighbor. We will
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Since tax returns were due today, it was fitting that today was the deadline for comments on an important proposed new regulation for tax whistleblower claims.
We have submitted formal comments today to the IRS excerpted below, and have asked to speak to the IRS to urge important changes on May 11 in Washington. We thought it important to explain the history of Congress’s 2006 changes to the IRS whistleblower law–and emphasize that its clear intent was to attract a greater number and variety of tax whistleblower claims.
We believe the IRS needs to remain true to that principle, and thus amend its proposed regulation to reward any whistleblower who creates a financial benefit to the Treasury. That principle will dramatically simplify–and enhance–the IRS Whistleblwoer rules. We have also advocated to end needless delays in the program.
Exceprpts of our formal comments to the IRS are reprinted below:
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The floodgates may be opening for the IRS Whistleblower program for tax whistleblowers, which we have written about since its birth in late 2006.Today, a law firm announced that its client received yesterday a $4.5 million award after filing a Form 211 reporting tax violations by a financial services firm.
The IRS Whistleblower Office cannot comment, as whistleblower information is protected by section 6103 of the the Internal Revenue Code. The whistleblower has elected to remain confidential, as the IRS rules allow.
The
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We have written about the first two highly successful “IRS Whistleblower Boot Camps” in 2009 and 2010, at which the IRS Whistleblower Office and whistleblower lawyers gathered to discuss the latest developments in pursuing tax whistleblower cases. It is sponsored by Taxpayers Against Fraud.
The Third Annual IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp will be held on April 12 in Washington, D.C.
Because the IRS has increasingingly focused on international and offshore tax issues, I will be moderating the panel discussion on “International and Offshore Tax Whistleblower Issues.”
(more…)The IRS announced today final regulations for sharing of tax return information with IRS whistleblowers and their lawyers, as the IRS pursues tax whistleblower claims.
Under these regulations, officers and employees of the Treasury Department may disclose tax return information to whistleblowers and, if applicable, their legal representatives, in connection with written contracts for services. (See our updated comments on why this rule and IRS practice should change dramatically, as the procedure has never been used.)
In theory, that sharing of information should
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Of interest to whistleblowers reporting fraud under the False Claims Act, the IRS Whistleblower Program, or the brand new SEC Whistleblower and CFTC Whistleblower Programs is an upcoming presentation, “Avoiding the Mistakes of the UBS/Birkenfeld Case: Protecting Whistleblowers from Criminal and Civil Liability.”
This discussion is part of a fascinating gathering this April in South Beach–the OffshoreAlert Conference. As the brochure promises:
Where else could tax collectors mingle with tax minimizers, asset tracers with asset protectors, regulators with the regulated, whistleblowers with their former employers and crooks with prosecutors?
(more…)As the IRS continues its increasing focus on international tax issues, a new IRS offshore disclosure program announced in December continues to take shape. While the IRS has not made public a full description of the program, details have emerged in comments of IRS officials over the past weeks.
Using the 2009 IRS voluntary disclosure program as a template, the IRS is apparently tweaking the approach that generated approximately 15,000 disclosures in the 2009 effort.
The IRS Criminal Investigative Division (“CI”)–already quite busy
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