LAS VEGAS -- Over the last two years, federal agents with the Internal Revenue Service have shown up in some unlikely places including casino nightclubs, pool parties, and some of the valley's most exclusive neighborhoods.
While their mission of bringing tax cheats to justice hasn't changed, their methods have.
Crooks have good reason to fear the tax man. About a year ago, the IRS began partnering with local, state and federal law enforcement to take down some of the valley's most prolific tax evaders.
With more than a few convictions to show for it, the IRS says it now has a new goal. That goal is to teach others its most infamous tactic of how to follow the money. Allied Artist's "Al Capone" depicts the rise and fall of the notorious Chicago mobster who was brought down, not by the Untouchables, but by a lesser known team of accountants with what is now the Internal Revenue Service.
"I think we have a profound understanding of our legacy which is the Al Capone legacy," said IRS Special Agent Paul Camacho.
Not unlike their predecessors, IRS Special Agent in Charge Paul Camacho and his team target some of southern Nevada's most wanted much the same way. They work with other federal, state and local law enforcement to follow the money.
"What we're trying to do is empower law enforcement. We want to magnify their ability to go after criminal activity. We're kind of like Alfred giving Batman a new tool to put on his belt. We're playing the supportive role," Camacho said.
Among the agency's first efforts was a partnership with Metro's Vice Division to target pimps like Micah Duncan who live lavishly off the unreported earnings of their working girls. Even money made illegally is subject to taxes.
"The pimps expect Metro to be there, but they don't expect the IRS to be standing side-by-side," said Metro Lt. Karen Hughes.
So far, Metro's Vice Division and the IRS have eight collaborations between them including the first which netted the department nearly a $250,000 in forfeited funds. But the effort extends beyond the sex trade to tax cheats of every stripe. For example, convicted financial manager William Reid, convicted medical consultant Howard Awand, and accused drug trafficker Nicholas Ghafouria.
"Let's say you've got a drug dealer with $100,000 in cash. What that drug dealer does is over the course of two weeks he breaks it up and deposits $9,000, and $9,000, and $9,000. That act is called structuring and it's a federal crime and it's a felony," Camacho said.
According to court records, Ghafouria is accused of similar transactions such as depositing more than $1 million of alleged drug money in less than $10,000 increments to avoid required currency transaction reports.
Such records are among the agenda items at meetings of the Financial Fraud Task Force. It's where IRS agents share their unique expertise; while at the same time learn more traditional law enforcement techniques.
"We're finding that as we're able to help everybody else understand what questions to ask, where to look, kind of change your paradigm a little bit, we're much more successful now than we've ever been because they're helping us and we're helping them," said IRS Special Agent Josh Bottjer.
At a recent raid on a reflexology salon, a blue IRS jacket stands out in a sea of Metro yellow. The business accused of scamming sex-seeking tourists out of hundreds, even thousands of dollars, now has more than the local police to worry about.
"The message to anyone involved in criminal activity, you've gotta watch out. Because it's not a matter of it, it's a matter of when," Camacho said.
The Financial Fraud Task Force has representatives from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the Secretary of State's office.
They tell the I-Team that exchange of information means that law enforcement at all levels will have some basic IRS skills and vice versa.
