Spy of a Different Kind

Ever wonder what it is like to be a spy? Jeff McGuire can tell you. He's not some secret agent ala James Bond, but he is a spy of sorts. He is a special agent with the Criminal Investigation Department of the IRS. It all started for him after a stint as an intern with the IRS after college. That got him interested in forensic accounting.

As an IRS special agent, McGuire does not only investigate tax-related crimes; his duties go beyond that. These agents also investigate money laundering, mail fraud, bank and mortgage fraud and drugs related crimes. Their job is basically to figure out where the money is going. There can be some high-risk situations like drug crimes or even terrorism. Drug crimes are especially challenging because there are often many currencies and people involved.

The IRS criminal agents have to go through the same type of training as other federal law-enforcement agents, but with a different focus. They are the only federal agents that have business and accounting skills besides criminal investigative abilities. That's why special agents such as McGuire are required to undergo specialized IRS training in addition to tactical, firearms and fitness training for 6 months at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, GA.

Although McGuire carries a gun in his line of duty, he works more with sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment, monitoring devices and financial analysis software.

One of the more recent cases McGuire has been involved in is the tax and mail fraud involving Cedar Rapids landlord Robert Miell. Miell falsely reported $336,000 in damages on 145 rental properties from a hailstorm in order to claim insurance compensation from American Family Mutual Insurance in Madison, WI in 2001 and 2002. In this case, McGuire's testimony helped convict Meill of 18 counts of mail fraud, 2 counts of perjury and 2 counts of filing false tax returns.

In another case, two pharmaceutical companies, Pharmacon and Medical Web Services that started Internet pharmacy websites in 2002, filled more than 400,000 prescriptions and dispensed more than 30 million pills. One of their drugstores, Union Family Pharmacy in Dubuque, Iowa had dispensed unlawful drug prescriptions and McGuire's investigations led to their 26 convictions in Iowa and brought in more than $4 million in forfeiture for the Iowa authorities.

In most cases, investigations into any one case may take a year or more to complete due to the complicated nature of the cases and because agents work on more than one case at a time.

Darrin T. Mish is a veteran, nationally recognized tax attorney who has focused on providing IRS help to taxpayers for over a decade. He regularly travels the country training other attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents on how to handle their toughest cases with the IRS. He is highly ranked among the top attorneys in the country, with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and a perfect 10 on Avvo.com. Martindale-Hubbell has also honored him with a listing in their Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He is a member of the American Society of IRS Problem Solvers and the Tax Freedom Institute. With clients on every continent but Antarctica, he has what it takes to solve your IRS problems no matter where you live in the world. If you would like more information about his practice and how he can help you, please call his office at (813) 229-7100 or toll free at 1-888-GET-MISH.

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