The IRS chief counsel said that the agency's new fraud enforcement office, with Carolyn Schenck as its first national fraud counsel, will help deter anyone trying to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP)
IRS Chief Counsel Michael Desmond said in a statement that Schenck's appointment will help deter bad-faith actors from trying to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"With the critical role the IRS is playing in responding to the unprecedented challenges of the COVID pandemic, having someone with her talent and experience should send a strong signal that those who seek to take advantage of the situation will face dire consequences," Desmond said.
COVID-19 is the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Schenck currently works as assistant division counsel in Small Business/Self-Employed, where she has focused on management of international and offshore matters under the division's jurisdiction. In her new position, she will help design and develop the agency's efforts to detect and deter fraud, the IRS said.
Schenck will work closely with Damon Rowe, who was selected to lead the fraud enforcement program in March.
She has litigated cases before the U.S. Tax Court and has worked with IRS special agents on cases involving fraud and foreign accounts, the agency said. Schenck has also worked within the IRS to address compliance and enforcement actions related to the use of virtual currencies, the agency said.
The IRS has already begun enforcing fraud related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act,
which Congress passed in March. For instance, the IRS participated in an investigation that resulted in the indictment of two men who prosecutors allege sought more than $500,000 in relief to pay employees at businesses that were fictitious, closed or owned by someone else. Schenck and the IRS could not immediately be reached for further comment.
--Additional reporting by Dylan Moroses. Editing by John Oudens.
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