Activities involving Criminal Investigation (CI) special agents in the tracking of assets from the former Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein.

• IRS Criminal Investigation special agents have a combined accounting and law enforcement background. These combined skills make IRS special agents unique Federal Agents.  They are experts at following financial transactions, analyzing key pieces of detailed financial information and putting together an otherwise confusing, jigzaw-type puzzle of financial transactions, that outline expenditures, life-style changes and acquisition of assets. Discovering where the money came from and where it went is what IRS special agents do best.

These unique skills enable them to analyze complex, often unusual, financial transactions, and are best utilized to combat terrorism involving:

• The leadership and members of extremist groups who have committed tax, money laundering, or currency violations; 
• Persons engaged in fundraising activities to support terrorism, especially if tax exempt organizations are being utilized; 
• Terrorism investigations involving complex, extensive or convoluted financial transactions.

Since September 11, 2001, IRS special agents have responded to all requests for assistance - in whatever capacity - as needed by the Government.  For example, IRS special agents conducted grid searches at the crash sites at the World Trade Center and in Pennsylvania, sifted through rubble searching for evidence at the New York landfill and provided extra security at several locations.

Some of IRS Criminal Investigation's more traditional investigative assignments in connection with the September 11th attack include:

Special Assignments in the Middle East.  Special Agents from IRS CI are currently assigned to use those skills as part of an interagency effort to trace and recover Iraqi assets, including both official assets of the former regime and illicit assets looted and held by or on behalf of Saddam Hussein, his associates, their families, front companies, etc. The financial investigative process for the assignment is very similar to the routine duties IRS CI special agents are trained to address including complex tax schemes and narcotics money laundering where nominees and layered transactions are conducted with artificial entities to hide and conceal money.

CI Computer Investigative Specialists (CIS) assistance to terrorist investigations.  Today most financial records are stored on computers.  CI’s Computer Investigative Specialists (CIS) are experts in extracting financial records stored in computer hard drives, computer networks, and even the Internet.  CISs take part in every IRS criminal and counterterrorism investigation that involves the acquisition of digital evidence. 

Strategic Information Operations Center (SIOC). Headquartered at the FBI in Washington, DC, this is the centralized location for all of the information obtained by the below-mentioned task forces as well as any other state, local or federal information relating to terrorist activity. Federal agents from numerous bureaus work together, bringing their own unique investigative skills, to review, analyze and further investigate the accumulated information. IRS Criminal Investigation managers and agents are reviewing the financial leads.

Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The Federal Bureau of Investigation's JTTFs were created to strengthen efforts to combat terrorism by enhancing cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Thirty-four JTTFs have been established. Prior to September 11, 2001, each federal agency had one member on the JTTF -- membership included all federal agencies who have GS-1811 agents and state and local police. Support by IRS Criminal Investigation has increased since the September 11, 2001 attack.

Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Department of the Treasury and the Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice coordinate this activity. The President's Counter-terrorism initiative calls for the establishment of a Foreign Terrorism Asset Tracking (FTAT) Center in Washington, DC under the office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This center employs the investigative skills and analytical capabilities of Treasury enforcement agencies to identify terrorist fundraising activities - then pursue these leads to determine if legal cause exists to civilly or criminally forfeit the assets.

Anti-Terrorism Task Forces. On September 17, 2001, the Attorney General issued instructions to each United States Attorney to establish an Anti-Terrorism Task Force within each judicial district. The task forces will be part of a national network that will coordinate the dissemination of information and the development of investigative and prosecutive strategy through the country. The task forces will be a conduit of information about suspected terrorists between the federal and local agencies. Intelligence about terrorist networks obtained by federal agencies will be disseminated through these task forces to the local police officials who can help monitor those networks in their localities. The task forces will also serve as a coordinating body for implementing the operational plan for the prevention of terrorism. And, the task forces will serve as a standing organizational structure for a coordinated response to a terrorist incident in that district.

High Intensity Money Laundering and Related Financial Crime Area (HIFCA) Task Forces. (Mandated in the National Money Laundering Strategy) HIFCAs occupy the flagship role in the nation's efforts to disrupt and dismantle large-scale money laundering systems and organizations. The designation of a HIFCA is intended to concentrate law enforcement efforts at the federal, state, and local level on combating money laundering in high-intensity money laundering zones, whether based on drug trafficking or other crimes. The 2001 Money Laundering Strategy announced the designation of two new HIFCA locations: Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) and Northern District of California (San Francisco). The four HIFCAs named in the 2000 strategy were: New York/New Jersey; San Juan/Puerto Rico; Los Angeles; and a "Southwest Border systems HIFCA," designed to address cross-border currency smuggling in Texas/Arizona to and from Mexico. HIFCAs are composed of all relevant federal, state, and local enforcement authorities; prosecutors; and federal financial supervisory agencies as needed. They work closely with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and focus on collaborative investigative techniques. In 2003 The HIFCA Executive Board approved a South Florida HIFCA which is centralized in Miami.

Annual Business Plan

 Enforcement Strategy
Criminal Investigation (CI)