A mug shot of Al Capone's paunchy face is pasted to the wall of the Internal
Revenue Service criminal division's downtown office as a reminder that it was a
tax case that brought the gangster down.
With tax season here, Byram Tichenor, special-agent-in-charge of the Chicago
field office, said he is shifting agents in his office to focus on a more common
brand of tax cheat--those who earn their money legally.
The shift marks a change in the role many IRS agents play in local federal
investigations, where they often work in tandem with the FBI to add tax charges
to cases involving illicit money.
IRS special agents will concentrate more on the agency's core mission of
stopping so-called "legal income" fraud, in which an individual tries to hide
earnings from the tax preparer, who winds up filing false returns, Tichenor
said.
"In the past we've joined an investigation and we added our criminal tax and
our money-laundering counts to the charges other agencies put on," Tichenor
said. "I'm going to be looking at these investigations more toward, is this just
piling on charges, or can the IRS make a big difference here."
Tichenor stressed that collaboration will continue but that he will use more
discretion in allocating the Chicago field office's resources.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Grant appreciates the problem the IRS has
in distributing its agents, said spokesman Ross Rice.
"When they are able to help, their assistance will be appreciated," Rice
said.
Tichenor, meanwhile, is planning to increase the number of undercover
operations, search warrants and prosecutions that spring from his office's
independent investigations, he said.
This tax season, the office will assign more agents to undercover "shopping"
investigations for crooked accountants and tax preparers.
And for the first time, all 12 of the Chicago field office's special-agent
units will be asked to assist in building cases against bad preparers, Tichenor
said.
Finding such cheats pays off for investigators because it often leads to
people who intentionally file fraudulent returns either to hide income or get
inflated returns.
"I've made everybody aware that if called upon they need to clear their plate
to respond to this area," he said.
At Chicago's federal courthouse, major criminal cases regularly involve the
IRS, even if the FBI often is the lead investigative agency.
Throughout the corruption trial of former Gov. George Ryan, IRS Special Agent
Sue Roderick has been a part of the prosecution team.
Tichenor, who has run the Chicago field office for a year, said he wants to
change the direction of the office because of the importance of catching people
who cheat on their taxes.
"The mission of tax compliance is hugely important in terms of the overall
health of our economy and just having a fair tax system where everybody pays
their fair share," he said.
