The IRS seized $ 3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 2021, a figure that represented 93% of all seized assets in the agency’s criminal investigations.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States of America, the federal agency in charge of tax collection and compliance with tax laws, revealed a report detailing the role the cryptocurrencies played in the cases investigated by that institution.
According to the report, 93% of all seizures led by said Criminal Investigations team include cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. In the last year, the IRS criminal unit seized various billions of dollars in Bitcoin and other digital currencies related to cases involving many criminal activities, such as wire fraud, money laundering, illegal narcotics, and even fiscal fraud.
Said seizure includes $ 1 billion stolen from Silk Road, an illicit online Bitcoin market that closed in 2013. As such, the investigation team seized cryptocurrencies worth a total of $ 3.5 billion during the fiscal year 2021.
Cybercrime Specialized Team
The IC division is in charge of compliance and investigation of financial crimes related to tax noncompliance in the United States of America. The office investigates crimes such as money laundering, currency violations, tax-related identity theft fraud, and terrorist financing crimes that, in some cases, may involve digital assets.
Jim Lee, head of the IRS division, said that when it comes to virtual currencies involved in financial investigations, they are the best trackers worldwide.
The federal agency assured in its report that, due to the latest technological advances in financial matters, the CI has committed to staying in the frontlines through significant investments that would help train employees in the latest tactics and techniques to be successful in a digital financial world.
Cryptocurrency-Related IRS Cases
The IRS document addressed some of the most vital digital asset-related seizures in the organization’s history, alleging that many of these findings are from the past year.
Sterlingov worked in a mixing service called Bitcoin Fog since 2011. During the time of its operation, Bitcoin Fog moved at least 1.2 million BTC or more, which, at the time, got valued at approximately $ 335 million.
The IRS mentioned that most of this seized cryptocurrency came from the dark web markets and had strong connections with illegal narcotics, computer fraud, identity theft, and abuse activities.
Another case that found resolution this year was Roger Nils-Jones Karlsson, who received a sentence of 15 years in prison for money laundering, securities fraud, and wire fraud.
Karlsson led an investment fraud program until his arrest in Thailand in June 2019. Karlsson seduced victims to purchase shares in the failed program called Eastern Metal Securities. On the other hand, the IRS highlighted that one of its victories in criminal investigations with cryptocurrencies came this year after the first sentence of a Bitcoin case with a tax component.
The case was the 9-year federal prison sentence of a former Microsoft employee who defrauded the company out of more than $ 10 million in BTC using a cryptocurrency mixer to hide taxable income.
By: Jenson Nuñez
