By virtue of the authority vested in me by Part O, Subpart N of Title
28 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), particularly Section 0.70,
regarding criminal proceedings arising under the internal revenue laws, authority
to authorize grand jury investigations of false and fictitious claims for tax
refunds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 𨵶 and 18 U.S.C. 𨵷, is hereby
conferred on all United States Attorneys.
This delegation of authority is subject to the following limitations:
The case has been referred to the United States Attorney by Regional
Counsel/District Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, and a copy of the request for
grand jury investigation letter has been forwarded to the Tax Division,
Department of Justice; and,
Regional Counsel/District Counsel has determined, based upon the available
evidence, that the case involves a situation where an individual (other than a
return preparer as defined in Section 7701(a)(36) of the Internal Revenue Code)
for a single tax year, has filed or conspired to file multiple tax returns on
behalf of himself /herself, or has filed or conspired to file multiple tax
returns in the names of nonexistent taxpayers or in the names of real taxpayers
who do not intend the returns to be their own, with the intent of obtaining tax
refunds to which he/she is not entitled.
In all cases, the request for grand jury investigation letter, together
with the Form 9131 and a copy of all exhibits, must be sent to the Tax Division
by overnight courier at the same time the case is referred to the United States
Attorney. In cases involving arrests or other exigent circumstances, the request
for grand jury investigation letter (together with the completed Form 9131) must
also be sent to the appropriate Criminal Enforcement Section of the Tax Division
by telefax.
Any case directly referred to a United States Attorney's office for grand
jury investigation which does not fit the above fact pattern or in which a copy
of the referral letter has not been forwarded to the Tax Division, Department of
Justice (by overnight courier), by Regional Counsel/District Counsel will be
considered an improper referral and outside the scope of this delegation of
authority. In no such case may the United States Attorney's office authorize a
grand jury investigation. Instead, the case should be forwarded to the Tax
Division for authorization.
This delegation of authority is intended to bring the authorization of
grand jury investigations of cases under 18 U.S.C. 𨵶 and 18 U.S.C.
𨵷 in line with the delegation of authority to authorize prosecution of
such cases (see United States Attorneys' Manual, Title 6, 4.243). Because the
authority to authorize prosecution in these cases was delegated prior to the time
the Internal Revenue Service initiated procedures for the electronic filing of
tax returns, false and fictitious claims for refunds which are submitted to the
Service through electronic filing are not within the original delegation of
authority to authorize prosecution. Nevertheless, such cases, subject to the
limitations set out above, may be directly referred for grand jury investigation.
Due to the unique problems posed by electronically filed false and fictitious
claims for refunds, Tax Division authorization is required if prosecution is
deemed appropriate in an electronic filing case.