A United States Attorney’s Office must obtain Tax Division approval before bringing mail, wire or bank fraud charges, either alone or as the predicate to RICO or money laundering charges, if the conduct arises under the internal revenue laws. Conduct arising under the internal revenue laws includes a defendant's submission of a document or information to the IRS. A United States Attorney also must obtain Tax Division approval to bring charges based on state tax violations if the case involves parallel federal tax violations.

1. A. Mail, Wire or Bank Fraud Charges. The Tax Division may approve mail, wire or bank fraud charges in tax-related cases involving schemes to defraud the Government or other persons if there was a large fraud loss or a substantial pattern of conduct and there is a significant benefit to bringing the charges instead of or in addition to Title 26 violations. See generally JM 9-43.100. Absent unusual circumstances, however, the Tax Division will not approve mail or wire fraud charges if a case involves only one person's tax liability or when all submissions to the IRS were truthful.

Examples of situations where, with Tax Division approval, a United States Attorney’s Office may appropriately use mail, wire or bank fraud charges in a tax case include:

1. 1. when a target has filed multiple fraudulent returns seeking tax refunds, using fictitious names, or using the names of real taxpayers without their knowledge, appropriate charges may include mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341) or wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §1343);

2. 2. when a target has promoted a fraudulent tax scheme, appropriate charges may include mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341) or wire fraud (18 U.S.C. §1343);

3. 3. when a target has induced a financial institution to approve refund anticipation loans on the basis of the fraudulent information submitted to the IRS, appropriate charges may include bank fraud charges (18 U.S.C. § 1344).

The Government may derive significant benefits at different stages of the litigation by using mail, wire or bank fraud charges. First, at the charging stage, the charges may support the Government's effort to forfeit the proceeds of the fraud scheme or may enable the Government to describe the entire scheme in the indictment. Second, at trial, the charges may support the Government's presentation of all relevant evidence of the scheme or permit flexibility in the Government's choice of witnesses. And third, at sentencing, the charges may support the Government's efforts to obtain full restitution.

1. B. Racketeering and Money Laundering Charges Based on Tax Offenses. The Tax Division will not authorize the use of mail, wire or bank fraud charges to convert routine tax prosecutions into RICO or money laundering cases, but will authorize prosecution of tax-related RICO and money laundering offenses when unusual circumstances warrant such a prosecution. A United States Attorney’s Office who wishes to bring a RICO charge (18 U.S.C. § 1962) in any criminal matter arising under the internal revenue laws must first obtain the authorization of the Tax Division and the Criminal Division's Violent Crime and Racketeering Section. See JM 9-110.101. This requirement also applies to RICO cases where the predicate act is a state tax violation and there is a parallel federal violation. A United States Attorney’s Office who wishes to bring a money laundering charge (18 U.S.C. § 1956) based on conduct arising under the internal revenue laws, must first obtain the authorization of the Tax Division and, if necessary, the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section. SeeJM 9-105.300.

[updated January 2026] [cited in JM 6-2.000]