Criminal Investigation (CI) classifies its investigations into program and emphasis areas of fraud.  Each program area below contains information on CI's involvement in that area, national statistics, and case summaries.

Abusive Return Preparer Enforcement

Taxpayers should be very careful when choosing a return preparer. You should be as careful as you would in choosing a doctor or a lawyer. While most preparers provide excellent service to their clients, a few unscrupulous return preparers file false and fraudulent tax returns and ultimately defraud their clients. It is important to know that even if someone else prepares your return, you are ultimately responsible for all the information on the tax return.

Abusive Tax Schemes

Abusive tax scheme originally took the structure of abusive domestic and foreign trust arrangements. However, these schemes have evolved into sophisticated arrangements that take advantage of the financial secrecy laws of some foreign jurisdictions and the availability of credit/debit cards issued from offshore financial institutions.

Bankruptcy Fraud

One of Criminal Investigation's goals in bankruptcy fraud investigations is to increase voluntary compliance with federal tax laws through the prosecution of those committing significant crimes in the bankruptcy arena. Since the IRS is often a major creditor in many bankruptcy proceedings, it is important that we protect the interests of the IRS.

Corporate Fraud

Criminal Investigation is involved in most of the regional corporate fraud task forces because of our financial investigative expertise. Also, corporate fraud frequently involves violations of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) through falsification of corporate and individual tax returns and CI has exclusive investigatory jurisdiction over criminal violations of the IRC.

Employment Tax Enforcement

Employment tax evasion schemes can take a variety of forms. Some of the more prevalent methods of evasion include pyramiding, employee leasing, paying employees in cash, filing false payroll tax returns or failing to file payroll tax returns. Evading employment taxes can have serious consequences for employers and the employees.

Financial Institution Fraud

Criminal Investigation focuses on tax and money laundering violations involving fraud against banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, check cashers, money remitters, and other financial institutions. Currency Transaction Reports and Suspicious Activity Reports continue to be effective investigative tools in the financial world.

Gaming

Illegal gaming operations, including bookmaking, numbers, Internet and some charitable gaming operations, continue to be areas of compliance concern. Criminal Investigation continues to play an enforcement role in the illegal gaming industry and to support regulatory and legislative initiatives aimed at eliminating an environment conducive to illegal gambling.

General Tax Fraud

The efforts of Criminal Investigation are directed at the portion of American taxpayers who willfully and intentionally violate their known legal duty of voluntarily filing income tax returns and/or paying the correct amount of income, employment, or excise taxes. These individuals pose a serious threat to tax administration and the American economy.

Healthcare Fraud

Multi-agency healthcare fraud investigations and prosecutions show that perpetrators of these schemes financially benefited from their fraudulent activities in false billings, mental health, nursing home fraud, chiropractic fraud, durable medical equipment fraud, staged accidents, pharmaceutical diversion, and patient referral (kickbacks) schemes. In these investigations, Criminal Investigation follows the money trail and considers both tax and money laundering perspectives.

Insurance Fraud

Insurance Fraud can involve tax law and/or money laundering violations relative to insurance claims and fraud perpetrated against insurance companies. The variety of schemes include agent/broker premium diversion, phony insurance companies, offshore/unlicensed Internet companies, staged auto accidents, viatical and senior settlement.

Money Laundering

Money laundering is a very complex crime involving intricate details, often involving numerous financial transactions and financial outlets throughout the world.  Criminal Investigation has the financial investigators and expertise that is critical to “follow the money trail.”

Narcotics-Related Investigations

Criminal Investigation's contribution to the war on narcotics is vital but sometimes difficult to recognize, because the work of IRS special agents usually doesn't make the headlines. The long hours of tracking down and documenting financial leads allows an investigation to go right to the door of the leader of the narcotics organization, which contributes to the disrupting and dismantling the country's major drug and money laundering organizations.

Nonfiler Enforcement

There have always been individuals who, for a variety of reasons, argue taxes are voluntary or illegal. The courts of repeatedly rejected their arguments as frivolous and routinely impose financial penalties for raising such frivolous arguments. Take the time to learn the truth about frivolous tax arguments.

Public Corruption Crimes

Public corruption investigations encompass a wide variety of criminal offenses including bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks, entitlement and subsidy fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, and money laundering. Criminal Investigation concentrates its resources on the tax and money laundering aspects of these investigations in cooperation with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The expertise used in investigations has established our reputation as one of the leaders in the fight against corrupt public officials.

Questionable Refund Program (QRP)

Questionable Refund Program (QRP) is a nationwide, multifunctional program designed to identify fraudulent returns, to stop the payment of fraudulent refunds and to refer identified fraudulent refund schemes to be investigated and prosecuted criminally.

Telemarketing Fraud

The typical illegal telemarketer operates by exploiting the trust of consumers to whom they present an opportunity "too good to be true." These opportunities include cash, vehicles, vacations, jewelry, investments, donations to charity, participation in lotteries, or the opportunity to recoup losses from prior schemes. These "opportunities" are, in fact, "too good to be true."

Examples of Fraud Investigations

Even though we have links to examples of fraud investigaton by program and emphasis area imbedded in that area above, we also have pulled an alphabetical listing of just the examples and placed here for your convenience.

Criminal Investigation (CI) home page

How to Report Suspected Tax Fraud Activities