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IRS Deputization Program Has Meant Large Forfeitures for Local Law Enforcement

By Brian Monroe

An IRS initiative granting state and municipal investigators access to a federal database of bank regulatory filings has helped law enforcement agencies reap hundreds of millions of dollars in forfeitures. Launched in 2011 by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division (IRS CI), the program has "deputized" at least 350 agents, according to Ed Loomis, a spokesman for the agency. Participants receive three days of training on how to detect money laundering and other crimes as well as access to the U.S. Treasury Department's database of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) records, he said. The IRS CI initiative is separate from...

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