WTHR's 13 Investigates: IRS Willfully Abetting Identity Theft By Illegal Aliens

This past week House Republicans in Washington announced the commencement of impeachment proceedings against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for misleading the efforts about the agency's unofficial policy of targeting conservative groups and purposefully destroying documents sought under congressional subpoena. Koskinen's removal from the IRS through the impeachment process has no chance of success because Senate Democrats will never provide the necessary votes Republicans in the upper chamber need to secure his conviction. WTHR's 13 Investigates has, however, uncovered very damning and shocking evidence against the agency that would, if made a part of those impeachment proceedings, make it difficult for Senate Democrats to defend Koskinen.

13 Investigates Bob Segall began a blockbuster investigative report last night that should scare the hell out of all Americans. IRS whistle blowers tell Segall that the IRS is essentially aiding and abetting people, including illegal aliens, in committing identity theft by using the social security numbers of law-abiding Americans to file tax returns and claim tax refunds. The whistle blowers spoke to Segall only if he agreed to hide their identity because they fear retaliation that occurred in the past to other IRS workers who blew the whistle on the agency willfully allowing illegal aliens to file fraudulent tax returns to claim billions of dollars in tax refunds annually. Shockingly, the IRS has a policy of not informing American citizens when their social security numbers have been compromised through identity theft. Here's the specific findings Segall's investigation uncovered:

• The IRS accepts millions of tax returns – and issues tax refunds – even when taxpayer documents show clear warning signs of identity theft 
• Confidential IRS policies instruct IRS employees not to tell taxpayers when someone else uses their social security number to earn income 
• The IRS allows illegal immigrants to "borrow" social security numbers that do not legally belong to them 
• The IRS is discontinuing a program to notify taxpayers when their social security number is used by someone else to gain employment

IRS employees complain to Segall they are being told to just "let it go" when they complain about the policy of covering up the rampant identity theft occurring through the use of other Americans' social security numbers. Previously, Segall reported on the practice of illegal aliens using taxpayer identification numbers assigned to them by the IRS for the purpose of filing tax returns to report income they earn, notwithstanding their inability to legally accept work in the U.S., to claim large tax refunds by overstating dependents and/or claiming earned income tax credits. Other illegal aliens who want to be able to provide an actual social security number to use for work purposes will use social security numbers belonging to other Americans. Their names clearly won't match the social security number when tax filings are made, but the IRS by policy does nothing to address mismatches. Shockingly, Segall uncovered the fact that the IRS is actually encouraging illegal aliens to use other Americans' social security numbers to file their tax returns, even thought it's a federal crime to do so. 

The IRS has instructed its employees to do nothing about tax returns filed by persons using someone else's social security number. By allowing the illegal aliens to use Americans' social security numbers, they are creating tax problems for those law-abiding citizens, who are being accused then by the IRS of filing false tax returns. You heard that right. The IRS will send the taxpayers whose social security numbers are being used by illegal aliens notices that they prepared inaccurate tax returns because the income reported for that number does not match their individual tax returns. Segall spoke to one taxpayers who spent months trying to straighten out the problem:

David Burian knew something was wrong the moment he opened the envelope.

"It was from the IRS, and they said I didn't report all of my income," the Fort Wayne businessman explained to 13 Investigates.

On the other side of the state, Alfred Allen received a letter that was nearly identical.

"I saw it was from the IRS, and I thought maybe it was my refund check. But it wasn't. They were telling me I had falsely done my taxes," the teacher explained from his Hobart home.

Both men were accused of underreporting their income, cheating the government out of money.

In reality, they are victims of identity theft. Undocumented workers got jobs using their social security numbers, making it appear Burian and Allen earned more income than they actually had. But the IRS wouldn't explain that to either victim.

"I called [the IRS] and they asked me if I worked for a company in Plainfield that I never heard of before. Then they told me what information I had to send in, but they didn't tell me anything else about what was going on," Burian said.

It took him months to prove to the IRS that the suspicious income was not his.

"I had to make a police report with the city of Fort Wayne. I had to make a police report with the state. I had to get an affidavit and sign that and then send it all to the IRS and wait and see what their response was," Burian explained, sifting through a large file full of correspondence and documentation related to the case. "It was very time consuming."

Allen had to do the same thing, and while he was trying to clear things up with the IRS, he and his family were denied state health insurance because of the mix up.

"I had to go months hoping my kids wouldn't get hurt because they didn't have the insurance," he said. "It was upsetting, a real hassle and kind of scary, really."

This is just simply unconscionable what our own government is doing to lawfully-abiding Americans in order to aid those who are living in this country illegally. When you stop to think about it, it really should come as no surprise. Private investigators have proven that President Barack Obama used identity theft to wiggle his way into the highest office of the land. Yes, E-Verify proved Barack Obama is using a social security number that was never legally assigned to him. Members of Congress, federal and state judges from across this country and other high-level government officials all know this to be true and nobody does anything about it for fear of retaliation.  If the President of the United States can appropriate another American's social security number for the big fraud he's perpetrated on the American people, why should illegal aliens be treated any differently? We have for all practical purposes ceased to become a nation of laws. The rule of law is nothing more than a figment of our imaginations. If you aren't scared to death by what's happening to this country, you should be.