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IRS Phone Scam Mastermind Given 175 Months to Think About His Life Choices

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

If you or someone you know have been thinking about getting into the IRS Crank Yanker business, you might want to be aware of the consequences should the authorities come calling:

Sahil Patel was sentenced to 175 months in prison and $1 million in forfeiture for his role in organizing the U.S. side of a massive fraud and extortion ring run through various “call centers” located in India, through which Patel and his co-conspirators impersonated American law enforcement officials and threatened victims with arrest and financial penalties unless those victims made payments to avoid purported charges. In addition to the prison sentence, Patel, 36, of Tatamy, Pa., was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Somewhat related: An "Officer Ron Black from the Internal Revenue Service" left me a voicemail last month. He warned me to not disregard the message and also said something about me "getting arrested." Unfortunately, I never got around to calling him back to plead forgiveness and/or lead him on a wild goose chase. The number is now disconnected. A missed opportunity, I know. I'm really hoping for another call.

So, anyway, don't make calls pretending you're an IRS agent. They'll throw you in jail for a while.

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Technically, Flying a Plane into an IRS Building Is Not Terrorism

That’s according to Janet Napolitano. Who knew that the Homeland Security Secretary was such an adept hair-splitter?

From the Washington Post 44 Blog: “To our belief, he was a lone wolf. He used a terrorist tactic, but an individual who uses a terrorist tactic doesn’t necessarily mean they are part of an organized group attempting an attack on the United States,” Napolitano said.


We decided to get to the bottom of this. Here’s the definition of “terrorism”:

The systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion

Okay then. The applicable definition of “terror”:

Violent or destructive acts (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands.

So “groups” is the key word here. Fine but does that include Facebook groups because, “His name is Joseph Stack” has 357 members. And did she run this past Treasury? Geithner and Shulman might have a different opinion.

In semi-related news, the SEC has announced that they will determine a “single high quality global definition of terrorism” within five years, at which time, any attacks on SEC facilities will be appropriately classified.

Napolitano rules out terrorism in IRS plane crash [WaPo]

Panic Isn’t Necessary if Your Tax Preparer Got Swept Up in “Operation Brass Tax”

With less than a week until April 15th, it’s safe to assume that some people are finally getting a tad anxious about the upcoming deadline. If you live in New York and happen to be one of these procrastinators, it may be wise to check with your tax professional, not only because they hate it when you show up on the 13th – 15th with nary a clue about what you earned in 2009 but also because if you’re really unlucky, your tax pro instead was just total shiester and got caught up in “Operation Brass Tax.”


First off, we’ll just say that we’re not sure who at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York or the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division was given the modest charge of naming this particular operation but it obviously sucks. We’re not expecting you have an imagination like JK Rowling or anything but guys, c’mon.

But enough with trivial matters, the main concern is that there are many New Yorkers that are completely going batshit crazy because A) they recently found out that their tax preparer was a robbing them blind and B) they have no idea how they are going to get their tax return filed in less than a week without help because reading the instructions is NOT. AN. OPTION.

Twenty-six phony tax experts in Manhattan and the Bronx have been charged by the SDNY/IRS for pulling a smorgasbord of scams including, “stolen identities of children to falsely claim them as dependents on clients’ returns; claiming “business losses” from fictitious businesses; using stolen identities, including Social Security numbers, of deceased individuals to list as the ‘taxpayers’ on fraudulent returns, and taking the resulting refunds themselves.”

All this chicanery has U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara upset because these tax professionals are supposed to be the good guys!

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and IRS Special Agent-in-Charge Patricia Haynes unsealed charges Thursday against the tax preparers. Sixteen were in custody, four had been previously charged and face new charges, and six remain at large. “Professional tax preparers are supposed to be gatekeepers, not facilitators of fraud,” said Bharara in a statement.

Some might argue that this is just another reason why regulating tax preparers is the best idea the IRS has ever had. Of course then you remember that these regulations will probably drive these tax prep lemonade stands underground anyway.

While that’s another matter entirely, there’s no cause for concern. There’s plenty of tax gurus in New York like the guy who got mixed reviews on Craigslist. If venturing to Queens isn’t a solution then you can always, you know, file the extension.

26 NYC Tax Preparers Charged with Tax Fraud [Web CPA]
More New York Tax Trouble:
Investigation Reveals that 30% of Tax Preparers in NYC Lied About Rapid Refunds