IRS to whistleblowers: just don't blow the whistle on us!
This just in from the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for a whistleblower say the Internal Revenue Service has awarded their client $104 million for providing information about overseas tax cheats — the largest amount ever awarded by the agency.
Ex-Swiss banker Bradley Birkenfeld is credited with exposing widespread tax evasion at Swiss bank UBS AG. Birkenfeld himself served about two and-a-half years in prison for a fraud conspiracy conviction related to the case, which resulted in a $780 million fine against the bank and an unprecedented agreement requiring UBS to turn over thousands of names of suspected American tax dodgers to the IRS.
Birkenfeld’s lawyers said the award provides '104 million messages to whistleblowers around the world — that there is now a safe and secure way to report tax fraud.'
The mind immediately leaps to Howard Antelis who blew the whistle on the IRS for turning a blind eye to tax fraud perpetuated by illegal aliens and was punished for it.
Earlier this year, Antelis told WHTR in Indianapolis that his mangers had instructed him and his colleagues to "look the other way" while processing ITIN applications for illegal aliens. WHTR ran a great series on the story, and the Inspector General's office sent auditors to interview Howard and other tax examiners. They learned that IRS employees were actually encouraged to ignore signs of fraud.
Unlike the ex-Swiss banker, Antelis didn't get a check for millions. Instead, the IRS downgraded his performance rating and cut his pay. The ex-convict got his pay day and Antelis got the back of the hand. Those "104 million messages" don't apply if you're whistleblowing on the IRS.
JEREMY BECK is the Director of the Media Standards Project for NumbersUSA