Billions in stolen crypto. Oligarchs' illicit assets. Financial crime is more complex than ever — and investigators say they need help to keep up
CBSN
In its more than 100-year history, the IRS criminal investigation unit has helped put away the likes of Al Capone and John Gotti. It is the nation's sixth-largest federal law enforcement agency and the only one authorized to investigate federal criminal tax violations and pursue related financial crimes, such as money laundering, currency violations and terrorist financing.
But as the financial world grows more complex, so has criminal activity – and the unit tasked with bringing such illicit action to heel is facing an increasing challenge. About 75% of the unit's time is spent on tax investigations, but in recent years, they've shifted resources to emerging areas – like cryptocurrency.
"Gone are the simple days of a person sending a transaction through a single bank account. That was easy to uncover: gain records from the bank. Now it's a very complicated web of sophisticated criminals trying to move money globally, "said Jarod Koopman from the IRS criminal investigation unit.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.