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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Two Swiss Bankers Come to U.S. to Face Charges Filed in 2012 (11/30/16)

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I previously reported on the indictment of three Swiss Bankers Stephan Fellman, Otto Huppi and Christof Reist -- in 2012.  See More Swiss Ba...
Sunday, November 27, 2016

Obituary for An Exceptional CI Special Agent (11/27/16)

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This is an article -- more like an obituary -- on a former IRS CI Agent, William Witkowski.  Mark Brown, IRS agent an answer to prosecutors’...
Saturday, November 26, 2016

Seventh Circuit Opinions (Majority and Dissenting) on Use of Stingray Technology for Cell-Phone Information (11/26/16)

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I have written before about federal law enforcement -- specifically IRS -- use of cell site simulators, often called Stingrays (the tradema...
Thursday, November 24, 2016

Trial Court Rejects Ineffective Assistance Claims for Strategic Choices at Trial (11/24/16)

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In Litwok v. United States , 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162715  (ED NY 2016), here , the Court denied the convicted defendants petition for relie...

Plea Agreements Are Contracts That Set the Scope of the Bargain (11/24/16)

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In United States v. Penn , 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160146 (SD AL 2016), here , the defendant had entered a plea agreement to two counts of agg...
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

IRS seeks John Doe Summons to Bitcoin Firm (11/23/16; 11/30/16)

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Readers of this blog have undoubtedly come across the word bitcoin.  (See Wikipedia entry, here .)  I do not know exactly how it works.  Bu...
Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Credit Suisse Being Investigated for Omitting at Least One Large Account (11/22/16)

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Dan Horsky recently made the news, including this blog, for a plea agreement related to very large offshore accounts, including at least on...
Saturday, November 19, 2016

Mens Rea Element of False Claims Crime, 18 USC § 287 (11/19/16)

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In United States v. Spear , 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155368 (ND IL 2016), here , the district court convicted the defendant in a bench trial fo...

Limitations on Cross-Examination of Cooperating Co-Conspirators as Sixth Amendment Violation? (11/19/16)

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In United States v. Williams , 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 20215 (11th Cir. 2016) (unpublished), here . the defendant was convicted for "consp...
Friday, November 18, 2016

The Relationship Between Affirmative Act of Evasion and Willfulness (11/18/16)

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In United States v. Boisseau , ___ F.3d ___, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 20535 (10th Cir. 2016), here , Boisseau was a lawyer who reported but did ...
Thursday, November 17, 2016

NYT Article on Positive Benefits of Remorse and Contrition at Federal White Collar Sentencing (11/17/16)

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I have written about Judge Jed S. Rakoff, a district judge in SDNY (Wikipedia here ).  Judge Rakoff is again in the news in this article:  P...

Charging Decisions for Trust Fund Tax Violations (11/17/16)

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DOJ Tax issued this press release:   Nevada Woman Indicted For Evading Payment of Trust Fund Recovery Penalties (11/16/16), here .  The key...
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Case on Appeal to Fifth Circuit on Standard of Proof for FBAR Willful Penalty (11/16/16)

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I have written before about the burden of proof the Government must meet in order to sustain an FBAR willful penalty.  I offer at the end of...

Stiglitz/Pieth Report on the Panama Papers Fiasco and Need for Global Action (11/16/16)

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I generally focus on U.S. tax crimes issues and avoid, generally, posting on larger topics that may somehow relate to U.S. tax crimes until...
Sunday, November 13, 2016

Swiss Federal Court Limits For Now Swiss Bank Disclosure of Enablers Under DOJ Swiss Bank Program (11/13/16)

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I picked up these articles some time ago and was waiting to post on it pending obtaining the decision discussed.  Davide Anghileri, Swiss ba...

DOJ Tax Principal DAAG Recent Review of Activities Related to Federal Tax Crimes (11/13/16)

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DOJ Tax issued this press release:   Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo Delivers Keynote Address at the Americ...
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Sixth Circuit Rejects Double Jeopardy Claim in Tax Prosecution Following State Civil Litigation Between Private Parties (11/9/16)

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In United States v. Rankin , 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 19746 (6th Cir. 2016) (unpublished), here , the Court rejected a double jeopardy defense i...

Estimating the Tax Loss Based on Statistical Sampling (11/9/16)

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As I have frequently noted, the tax loss is the principal driver in the Sentencing Guidelines for tax crimes.  Very generally the sentencing...