Represented Mr. Birkenfeld in successfully claiming an award of $104 million dollars for blowing the whistle on UBS for its involvement in illegal offshore accounts by U.S. taxpayers. Largest award to an individual whistleblower in world history.
Bradley Birkenfeld
”The only lawyer on my side was Steve Kohn. He was as smart as they come and feisty as a pit bull. Steve was convinced the government owed me a fat reward, and he was going to get it, or die trying.
Bradley BirkenfeldRecipient of Largest Whistleblower Reward in History of $104M
Howard Wilkinson
Represented Howard Wilkinson, a Danske Bank whistleblower who brought forward a $234 billion money laundering scandal, the largest in the world.
”I took the view that the right thing to do was to take his (a senior executive’s) word for it and take the money.
Howard WilkinsonExposed the Largest Money Laundering Scheme in History
Our Clients in The Media
A Crack in the Swiss Vault 13:17
Watch the 60 Minute special of Bradley Birkenfeld, the first international banker to blow the whistle on illegal off-shore tax evasion in Switzerland by U.S. Citizens.
Howard Wilkinson 13:16
Watch the 60 Minute special of an international banker Howard Wilkinson, a whistleblower who exposed a $230 Billion Danske Bank money-laundering scheme.
You Want to Blow The Whistle 4:02
Watch our Bloomberg video on why whistleblowing is important and why we need more whistleblowers to come forward with knowledge of tax violations and fraud.
“Anonymous Duo”
Represented two whistleblower clients received an award totaling $8.8 million dollars based on their information leading to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) collecting approximately $35 million dollars in corporate income taxes.
“Anonymous R”
Represented “Anonymous R” in blowing the whistle on tax fraud by a large financial institution where “Anonymous” worked. Assisted “Anonymous R” in working with IRS Criminal Investigation; FBI and Department of Justice to successfully pursue the case. “Anonymous R” received an award of over $100 million dollars.
Anonymous Trio
Represented a trio of whistleblowers in obtaining an award of approximately $70 million dollars for reporting tax evasion by a Fortune 100 company that was engaged in significant tax evasion through improper deductions and failures to include income. The whistleblowers were insiders with good information and documentation about recent tax evasion.
“Anonymous X”
Represented “Anonymous X” for award of $25 million dollars in exposing billionaire with undeclared income and illegal offshore account. Largest reported award to a tax whistleblower in U.S. history for exposing one individual for tax evasion.
Tax Court Success Stories
147 T.C. 121-2016
Represented couple in claim for tax whistleblower award before the U.S. Tax Court. Whistleblowers had assisted the U.S. Government in an action against financial institution. The Tax Court accepted argument of whistleblower’s counsel and ruled for whistleblower on definition of “collected proceeds” – assuring that whistleblowers got full credit for dollars recovered by the federal government. The whistleblowers received an award of approximately $10 million dollars as a result of this verdict. The Congress later codified the results of this win for whistleblowers – creating 26 U.S.C. 7623(c) clarifying the definition of “collected proceeds.”
144 T.C. 15 – 2015
Represented whistleblowers in case that saw the first evidentiary trial for tax whistleblowers in the Tax Court. Here, the Tax Court accepted the argument of whistleblower’s counsel and ruled in favor of the whistleblower that the whistleblower couldn’t deny a whistleblower an award because they were late in filing a request for an award. Through discovery the whistleblowers were able to show that the IRS was in error in stating that the whistleblowers had not assisted the government in its actions against a financial institution. The whistleblowers received an award of approximately $6 million dollars as a result of this decision by the Tax Court.
142 T.C. 21 – 2014
Represented whistleblowers who were insiders who exposed tax evasion by tax-exempt organization that was involved in financing terrorism. Government collected over $30 million dollars. The whistleblower’s lawyers successfully argued that whistleblowers should be given credit for additional information provided after the new tax whistleblower award program went into effect. Counsel successfully showed that the whistleblower provided the IRS and DOJ with the facts that formed the basis of IRS’ action against the targets.
