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IRS Phone Scam Mastermind Given 175 Months to Think About His Life Choices

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

If you or someone you know have been thinking about getting into the IRS Crank Yanker business, you might want to be aware of the consequences should the authorities come calling:

Sahil Patel was sentenced to 175 months in prison and $1 million in forfeiture for his role in organizing the U.S. side of a massive fraud and extortion ring run through various “call centers” located in India, through which Patel and his co-conspirators impersonated American law enforcement officials and threatened victims with arrest and financial penalties unless those victims made payments to avoid purported charges. In addition to the prison sentence, Patel, 36, of Tatamy, Pa., was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Somewhat related: An "Officer Ron Black from the Internal Revenue Service" left me a voicemail last month. He warned me to not disregard the message and also said something about me "getting arrested." Unfortunately, I never got around to calling him back to plead forgiveness and/or lead him on a wild goose chase. The number is now disconnected. A missed opportunity, I know. I'm really hoping for another call.

So, anyway, don't make calls pretending you're an IRS agent. They'll throw you in jail for a while.

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Memo to Rich People: Gird Your Loins for the IRS ‘Wealth Squads’

For those of you keeping score, the ballpark figure of “wealth” is “in the neighborhood of tens of million of dollars,” according to IRS Commish Doug Shulman’s best guess. So if this is you, the time is nigh. You peasants whose net worth falls into the seven figure range probably can rest easy but don’t get too comfortable, you’re still at risk.

And don’t think that this will be a friendly visit between you, your CPA and an IRS representative. No, this will likely be a financial strip search that will be topped off with a latex surgical glove moseying around your nether regions.

This will not be a kick-the-tires type of exam. Instead, think in terms of a major overhaul. Global High Wealth taxpayers and their representatives should expect to confront teams of revenue agents, partnership experts, and international examiners prepared to scrub not only the Forms 1040 and the attached schedules but also any and all related returns. In the background will be specialists in such areas as financial instruments; exempt organizations; retirement plans (whether individually maintained or employer sponsored) and insurance and annuity arrangements.

Granted this is just how Don Rocen, the article’s author (and former deputy chief counsel at the IRS) pictures it but…yeeesh. If you want to come out with your hands up, think they’ll go easy on you?

IRS ‘Wealth Squads’ On The Way [Forbes]