The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) promises to publish many results of high-profile investigations against the backdrop of the completion of high-profile cases related to the Bitfinex and Bitqyck sites
The head of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Jim Lee, said that the service is now handling hundreds of cases of tax evasion by investors in digital assets. Moreover, many of the cases are capable of becoming public.
According to Lee, crypto investors do not consider it necessary to report to the tax office information about the exchange of digital assets for fiat and payment for goods and services in cryptocurrency. In the first and second cases, money laundering may be hidden behind the withholding of information. Lee assured that the profile of tax evaders has changed a lot in three years:
“Previously, most of the cases were related to money laundering, now about half are various violations with cryptocurrencies.”
Li added that the Cyber Forensic Services Agency, established last year, has joined forces to investigate crimes involving digital assets and cybercrime. Tools for digital and physical forensics now allow tracking almost any cryptocurrency transaction.
The official recalled that during the year such figures as Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan were brought to justice. The family is accused of laundering cryptocurrencies stolen from the Bitfinex site in 2016. In March 2022, Bitqyck founders Bruce Bise and Samuel Mendez were sentenced for tax evasion.
Lee stressed that these high-profile cases and hundreds of other investigations speak to the agency’s success in combating cryptocurrency crimes.
Source: Bits
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