Nothing says Happy Holidays like lunch with an IRS Criminal Investigator. That's why our guest for lunch this week was IRS Criminal Investigations Agent Erick Martinez. Recently acknowledged for his role in bringing a Highland Park School Board member to justice for (allegedly) stealing over $125,000 from the district.
Erik's group has also been involved in the current investigation into alleged malfeasance in the city of Detroit. The case is currently in court, and we've all been hearing the stories of bribery and contract rigging. Many of these are investigated by the IRS, where Erik and his staff use forensic auditing techniques to trace the transactions, text messages, emails, documents and more.
The IRS is often the agency of last resort when other investigative groups believe criminal activity is taking place, but cannot prove it. More often than not, these activities result in significant monetary transactions that the IRS is able to identify in the course of their investigations.