Carolyn Schenck Comments on DOJ’s New Fraud Enforcement Division in Tax Notes

The Justice Department created a new National Fraud Enforcement Division that will house the criminal tax section from the Tax Division disbanded last year.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the new division’s mission and the initial steps contributing to its formation in an April 7 memo.

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It will be interesting to see if the new division also takes on the civil tax functions at the Justice Department, according to Carolyn A. Schenck, the former IRS national fraud counsel now with Caplin & Drysdale.

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Schenck said that one of the things that made the Tax Division’s prosecutions so successful was coordination between the civil and criminal tax functions as well as with the IRS and U.S. attorney’s offices. Maybe the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s coordination mission will replicate the Tax Division’s line of sight into cases in the same manner, she said.

The new division should focus on investigations that follow the money, Schenck said, adding that she’ll be watching to see if that happens. It’s hard to tell at the moment if the new division will pursue both large and small tax issues to maintain the needed credible deterrent promoting public confidence in the tax system, she said.

To read the article in full, please visit Tax Notes’ website.