A laser-type focus of the IRS: identity theft

On Behalf of | Mar 17, 2015 | White Collar Crime

If you work in a Florida company in any position of responsibility, you know how complex the interworkings of company policy and operating procedures can be. Many corporate environments — indeed, most business settings — are marked by the close interplay of departments and fast-paced changes defined by shifting company needs.

That can equate to the quick moving of inventory. Money gets transferred. Job titles and responsibilities blur.

In such a frenetic and sometimes complicated business milieu, mistakes are made. Both sides of the ledger sheet don’t always precisely tally. Some people in fact engage in criminal activity, while others who are totally innocent of wrongdoing are caught up in investigatory probes only because of their proximity to alleged criminal activity.

That is the world of white collar crime, and it is a big universe, spanning alleged fraudulent activity of all sorts.

It is also a hot-button topic and close investigatory focus of state and federal enforcement officials and prosecutors, with there being a heightened emphasis in recent years on spotlighting and harshly punishing wrongdoers.

Florida is often noted quite prominently in stories focusing on white collar criminal activity, as is evidenced by a recent media overview of identity theft prosecutions in 2014 publicized by the Internal Revenue Service.

A top-10 list compiled by the IRS includes two Florida residents charged with a number of white collar-related crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the government, theft of government property, aggravated identity theft and wire fraud.

Both of those individuals received lengthy prison sentences after being convicted of the charges against them.

Two tandem points emerge from those outcomes.

First, it is clear that government authorities are closely targeting white collar criminal activity and seeking harsh sanctions for it.

And, second, accused individuals certainly have a compelling need for a strong legal defense to promote their legal rights as they battle against the formidable might of a criminal justice system that seeks to harshly punish them.

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