obÌåÓý

March 28, 2023 ¡ª Leihinahina Sullivan of Lihue, Kauai, was sentenced today before United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright to 17 years in prison and three years of supervised release for three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft related to multiple long-running fraudulent schemes. Sullivan previously pleaded guilty to these offenses in July 2021. She is also required to pay $3,396,035.15 in restitution to various victims and public and private entities and subject to a penalty of $2,012,41.92 in forfeiture for the criminal proceeds of her offenses. In sentencing Sullivan, Judge Seabright described the ¡°staggering scope, length, and complexity¡± of her criminal conduct.

IR-2023-86, April 18, 2023 ¡ª The Internal Revenue Service, Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services have jointly issued Frequently asked questions about the Affordable Care Act Implementation, Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Implementation Part 58 and Affordable Care Act and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Implementation Part 59 to clarify how the COVID-19 coverage and payment requirements under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act will change when the Public Health Emergency ends.

March 19, 2024 ¡ª Earlier today, Aventura Technologies, Inc. (Aventura) pleaded guilty to committing mail and wire fraud conspiracy and illegal importation in federal court in Central Islip. The guilty plea reflects Aventura¡¯s long-running, lucrative scheme to purchase Chinese-made security equipment (such as networked surveillance cameras) and resell it as U.S.-made, including to multiple agencies of the U.S. government, branches of the military and to customers overseas in the public and private sectors. The scheme began in 2006, ending in 2019 when charges were brought in this case. Aventura made more than $112 million in sales during that time. Today¡¯s proceeding was held before United States Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay.

May 16, 2024 ¡ª Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, and Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the FBI, today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned a 22-count indictment charging Konstantinos "Kosta" Diamantis, of Farmington, with extortion, bribery, conspiracy, and false statement offenses related to his conduct as director of Connecticut¡¯s Office of School Constructions Grants and Review (¡°OSCGR¡±), the state agency responsible for the grant administration of all Connecticut public school construction projects seeking state funding.

June 13, 2022 ¡ª Crimes almost always involve financial transactions or a financial motive, and that's why it's essential that law enforcement know how to trace money tied to criminal activity. The week of June 13, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) will deliver a five-day training on financial investigative techniques to approximately 30 Palauan officials from the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Financial Institutions Commission, Bureau of Public Safety, the Office of the Attorney General, the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Revenue and Taxation, the National Security Coordination Office, the Office of the Special Prosecutor, and the Foreign Investment Board. Training participants will include prosecutors, criminal investigators, tax auditors, intelligence analysts and more.

Nov. 8, 2024 ¡ª Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Nicole M. Argentieri, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (¡°DOJ¡±); Kareem Carter, Executive Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C. Field Office; and, Derek W. Gordon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement¡¯s Homeland Security Investigations (¡°HSI¡±) Washington, D.C., Field Office, announced today that Telef¨®nica Venezolana, C.A. (¡°Telef¨®nica Venezolana¡±), a Venezuela-based subsidiary of Telef¨®nica, S.A. (¡°Telef¨®nica¡±), a publicly traded global telecommunications operator based in Spain, will pay over $85.2 million to resolve an investigation by the DOJ into a scheme to bribe government officials in Venezuela to receive preferential access to U.S. dollars in a currency auction.

IR-2024-61, March 5, 2024 ¡ª The Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations today for applicable entities that earn certain clean energy credits and choose to make an elective payment election.

March 28, 2024 ¡ª A former state representative and her longtime friend are facing federal charges for long-term scheme to defraud the U.S. government. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, of Albuquerque, and Joseph Johnson, of Chantilly, Virginia, are schedule to appear in federal court for an initial appearance on April 9, 2024.

The Security Summit coalition formed by the IRS, state tax agencies and the nation's tax industry organized the 9th Annual National Tax Security Awareness Week on December 2-6, in a campaign to increase awareness of scams and schemes.

IR-2023-34, Feb. 28, 2023 ¡ª The Internal Revenue Service today reminded businesses with income from farming or fishing that have not already made their estimated tax payments to file and pay their entire tax due on or before Wednesday, March 1, 2023.