Whistleblower Says IRS Managers Ignored Illegal-Alien ITIN Fraud
In WTHR’s latest report on Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) abuse and fraud, the Indianapolis NBC affiliate discussed revelations brought forward by an IRS whistleblower - "We were being told by upper management to ignore fraud, to assign ITIN numbers and...pay out refunds to people who are lying…It's a license to steal when you allow that."
Howard Antelis, a tax examiner at the IRS's ITIN processing center in Texas, contacted WTHR after seeing its series on ITIN fraud. He and other tax examiners said that IRS managers, for years, instructed them to "look the other way" while processing ITIN applications that appear to be fraudulent – even if they contain clear signs of criminal activity.
One time, Howard decided to investigate ITIN applications for dozens of children attending the same school in South Carolina. (Adult tax filers can request an ITIN for a child in order to get child tax credits and a larger tax refund.) He discovered the school didn't exist, but his bosses ordered him to approve the scam applications anyway.
Howard said, "We're tax examiners but the truth is we're not supposed to look into anything…It's like an assembly line…Get it out of here and don't worry about the fraud. Fraud slows us down…We're supposed to protect taxpayers, so somebody had to say something." He decided to call the Inspector General's office in Washington, D.C.
The IG's office sent auditors to interview Howard and other tax examiners. They learned that IRS employees were actually encouraged to ignore signs of fraud. The final report on the investigation, which took over a year, will be released this summer. It's expected to show that millions of illegal aliens can get ITINs by filing fraudulent paperwork.
"It's pure negligence by management and they've been trying to keep it quiet," Howard said. "There is a criminal element that is defrauding the U.S. government by filing mountains and mountains of these fraudulent applications…[The IRS managers] don't want to deal with it. That's where all the fraud is. The fraud is in the fake notary stamps and fake documents which we've been accepting…There is a state-by-state list of notaries that shows which are registered and legitimate, but the IRS won't let us check those registries."
After WTHR first reported on ITIN mismanagement and fraud, the IRS sent senior officials to investigate the ITIN processing center. WTHR says this has led to tax examiners getting more training on identifying fraudulent paperwork and equipment to help them better inspect documents. Also, illegal aliens must now prove their identity through original, certified documents.
Howard’s revelations did not come without a cost to him personally. The IRS dropped his job performance rating, which affects his paycheck. The IRS claimed his job performance dropped from "exceeds fully successful" to "minimally successful." Still, Howard wants to continue his fight for ITIN reform. "I just want to see things fixed. We've been allowing the U.S. taxpayer to get robbed for years now and those days appear to be over."
Read here for more information.