The IRS issued a uncommon apology to billionaire investor Ken Griffin for releasing his tax data to the press, in addition to to different taxpayers whose info was breached, the tax company stated in a assertion on Tuesday.”The Inner Income Service sincerely apologizes to Mr. Kenneth Griffin and the 1000’s of different People whose private info was leaked to the press,” the IRS stated.The apology stems from the case of a former IRS contractor named Charles Littlejohn, who was sentenced earlier this yr to 5 years in jail for unauthorized disclosure of tax returns. Littlejohn had offered tax return info for Griffin and different rich People to nonprofit information group ProPublica.
In an announcement to CBS MoneyWatch, Griffin stated, “I’m grateful to my group for securing an end result that can higher shield American taxpayers and that can in the end profit all People.” Starting in 2021, ProPublica printed a sequence referred to as “The Secret IRS Information,” which included the small print of tax returns for 1000’s of wealthy taxpayers, together with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk. The protection explored how among the wealthiest People decrease their taxes.
Littlejohn “violated the phrases of his contract and betrayed the belief that the American folks place within the IRS to safeguard their delicate info,” the company stated in Tuesday’s assertion. “The IRS takes its obligations critically and acknowledges that it failed to stop Mr. Littlejohn’s felony conduct and illegal disclosure of Mr. Griffin’s confidential knowledge.”
Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of hedge fund Citadel, on the Qatar Financial Discussion board, on Tuesday, Could 14, 2024.
Christopher Pike/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs
Griffin, the founding father of the hedge fund Citadel, is value virtually $42 billion, making him the world’s thirty fourth richest individual, in line with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The IRS’ apology comes after Griffin on Monday dropped a lawsuit towards the company and the U.S. Treasury Division that he had filed in December over the breach. “As we reported from the primary day the sequence appeared, we did not know the id of the supply who offered this trove of IRS recordsdata,” a spokesperson for ProPublica advised CBS MoneyWatch. “After cautious deliberation, ProPublica printed choose, newsworthy tax particulars of among the richest People to tell the controversy in regards to the equity of our tax system. These tales clearly served the general public curiosity.”The IRS stated it has made “substantial investments in its knowledge safety to strengthen its safeguarding of taxpayer info.”
It added, “The company believes that its actions and the decision of this case will end in a stronger and extra reliable course of for safeguarding the non-public info of all taxpayers.”
Extra from CBS Information
Aimee Picchi
Aimee Picchi is the affiliate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, the place she covers enterprise and private finance. She beforehand labored at Bloomberg Information and has written for nationwide information shops together with USA As we speak and Shopper Experiences.