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What Maryland can Learn from the IRS on the State’s New Tax Program: Ari Yampolsky and Michael Ronickher in the Washington Post

Posted  07/13/21
Headshots of whistleblower attorneys Michael Ronickher and Ari Yampolsky
Opening with the warning “tax cheats beware,” Constantine Cannon whistleblower attorneys Ari Yampolsky and Michael Ronickher published an opinion piece in the Washington Post detailing the provisions of Maryland’s new tax whistleblower reward program, which covers state and county tax fraud and underpayments. While New York has long allowed whistleblowers to use its state False Claims Act to bring tax claims,...

Want to Fix the Trillion Dollar Tax Gap? How Whistleblowers Can Help

Posted  04/23/21
IRS
Earlier this month, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles P. Rettig testified before the Senate Finance Committee, addressing the 2021 filing season and the “21st Century IRS.”  At the hearing, Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) raised the topic of the tax gap, referring to the difference between the total taxes that are legally owed, and the total taxes that are paid by individuals and entities. ...

Watch Now: Eric Havian Joins OffshoreAlert Panel with SEC, CFTC, and IRS Whistleblower Officials on Rewards for Domestic and Foreign Whistleblowers

Posted  04/2/21

For the third year in a row, Constantine Cannon partner Eric Havian participated in OffshoreAlert’s annual conference, vGlobal, speaking on a panel with senior leaders of the whistleblower programs at the SEC, CFTC, and IRS.  The panel, which you can watch below, “Rewarding Domestic & Foreign Whistleblowers: The Growth & Spreading Reach of U.S. Programs,” addressed the international reach of the U.S....

Operation Brace Yourself Nets $20M Settlement with DME Fraudster

Posted  02/9/21
stethoscope and blood pressure
This week, the Department of Justice announced it had reached a $20.3 million settlement with a Florida businesswoman who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and filing a false tax return.  The settlement resolved allegations that the woman, Kelly Wolfe, participated in a scheme to defraud Medicare by filling sham prescriptions for Durable Medical Equipment (DME) like back, ankle, knee, and wrist...

Top Ten Tax Recoveries of 2020

Posted  02/5/21
us cash with "taxes" sign on top
Tax fraud and tax evasion, unfortunately, continued apace last year.  Yet even in the face of waning tax resources, enforcement authorities chalked up some key wins in 2020. Criminal recoveries tend to dominate the headlines because many of the biggest tax recoveries are not public: the IRS scrupulously protects taxpayer privacy, and no announcements are made for civil tax recoveries.  Thus only those that result...

Corruption Crackdown in British Virgin Islands May Be the Start of Something Big

Posted  01/22/21
judge striking down his gavel
On January 18, 2021, the British government made a surprise announcement that they were convening an independent commission to investigate corruption, organized crime, and other governance failures in the British Virgin Islands.  BVI is infamous for its shell companies, lax oversight, generous tax policies, and general friendliness to those seeking to evade taxes—legally or otherwise.  It has also become the known...

Catch of the Week: Capital One pays $390M to resolve anti-money laundering (AML) violations.

Posted  01/22/21
Bank Building
Capital One, one of America’s ten largest banks, has agreed to pay $390 million to resolve allegations that it violated the Bank Secrecy Act and various other laws targeted at preventing money laundering. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) specifically said that Capital One willfully failed to guard against money laundering from 2008 to 2014, including a failure to file...

IRS Makes its 2020 Whistleblower Report to Congress: Mandatory Awards Hold Steady, but Long Delays Continue

Posted  01/8/21
IRS building
2020 proved to be a difficult year for most people, but within the tumult of the year the IRS Whistleblower Office continued to work and on December 29, 2020 provided its annual report to Congress (for fiscal year ending September 30, 2020). The report showed a mixed bag of success and difficulties in addressing tax fraud and awarding whistleblowers. The IRS Whistleblower Office made 169 awards to whistleblowers in...

D.C. Council Passes Amendment that Expands D.C. False Claims Act to Cover Tax Fraud

Posted  01/8/21
folder records
The D.C. Council has passed, by veto-proof majority, an amendment to its False Claims Act that expands the scope of the Act to cover tax fraud claims. The amended D.C. FCA will cover tax fraud claims against people and entities that file taxes in D.C., report at least $1 million in income, and understate their tax liability or seek a tax refund resulting in damages of $350,000 or more.  D.C. joins New York and Guam,...

Top Ten State Healthcare and Financial Fraud Recoveries of 2020

Posted  01/8/21
person raising the U.S. flag
State and local governments are on the front lines of enforcing anti-fraud laws and play a critical role in ensuring that businesses and individuals are held accountable.  Whistleblowers with information about corporate misconduct involving healthcare, government procurement, financial regulation, and tax may find that state proceedings offer them the best option. More than 30 states have False Claims Acts that...