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March 21, 2019 at 03:53 PM
The Internal Revenue Service announced this week that its Criminal Investigation unit, working with the Justice Department’s tax division and U.S. attorneys around the country, had made 11 arrests, indicted 15 individuals and seen five other individuals or businesses sentenced for committing some type of identity theft or refund fraud scheme.
“Identity theft is a pervasive crime and stopping it remains a top priority of the IRS,” IRS commissioner Charles Rettig said in a statement. “We are fighting this problem with enhanced systems, smarter technology and the efforts of our dedicated workforce, including Criminal Investigation. We will retain our relentless, vigorous pursuit of those who prey upon others in this arena.”
Identity theft is one of a dozen scams the IRS considers it necessary to alert taxpayers to every tax season and year-round.
“Millions of taxpayers put their trust in tax professionals to prepare accurate and lawful returns,” Criminal Investigation chief Don Fort said in the statement. “Unfortunately, a few bad apples take advantage of that trust for their own greed and profit.”
Take a look at the gallery for the 2019 “Dirty Dozen,” according to the IRS.
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