IRS apologizes to billionaire Ken Griffin for leaking his tax data

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 Inside Income Service sincerely apologizes to Mr. Kenneth Griffin and the hundreds of different Individuals 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 Individuals to nonprofit information group ProPublica. 

In an announcement to CBS MoneyWatch, Griffin stated, “I’m grateful to my workforce for securing an final result that may higher defend American taxpayers and that may finally profit all Individuals.” 

Starting in 2021, ProPublica printed a sequence referred to as “The Secret IRS Information,” which included the main points of tax returns for hundreds of wealthy taxpayers, together with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk. The protection explored how among the wealthiest Individuals reduce 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 severely and acknowledges that it failed to forestall Mr. Littlejohn’s felony conduct and illegal disclosure of Mr. Griffin’s confidential knowledge.”

Griffin, the founding father of the hedge fund Citadel, is price nearly $42 billion, making him the world’s thirty fourth richest individual, in accordance 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. 

ProPublica did not instantly reply to a request for remark. 

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 lead to a stronger and extra reliable course of for safeguarding the non-public info of all taxpayers.”