IRS Rewards Enron Whistleblower $1.1 Million

The Washington Post reported that the IRS awarded $1.1 million to the anonymous whistleblower who reported Enron for bilking the government out of over $200 million in tax revenue before its collapse in 2001.  The whistleblower showed the IRS how Wall Street banks, using business arrangements and entities, provided tax shelters for $600 million of Enron’s income and fraudulently boosted Enron’s earnings by over $300 million.  The whistleblower was employed at a Wall Street investment bank while he educated the IRS on those fraudulent tax shelters.  In 2006, Congress passed legislation implementing the new IRS Whistleblower Reward Program where individuals who expose tax fraud can receive an award ranging from 15% to 30% of the proceeds recovered by the IRS.

Tagged: Enforcement Bodies, Internal Revenue Service (IRS)