IRS Criminal Investigations holds workshop for CWU students

A classic piece of advice given in fictional criminal investigations is to “follow the money.”

What many don’t know is that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a Criminal Investigation (CI) agency dedicated to doing just that in a broad variety of cases, relying on forensic accounting to track down law breakers and prosecute them for their crimes.

Earlier this month, CI’s Seattle Field Office sent a delegation to Ellensburg to show CWU students what a career in this highly specialized field might look like. The May 10 visit was coordinated by CI Special Agent Jon Gee, who hosts similar recruitment efforts across the Pacific Northwest.

“We just want to reach out to students and the community to let them know who we are and what we do,” Gee said. “Since we’re recruiting right now, this is a great opportunity to show students what’s available to them if they want to pursue this career.”

The Citizen Academy event, held at the Kittitas Valley Event Center and supported by the CWU Department of Accounting, tasked the attending 24 students with conducting a mock investigation from beginning to end, using their knowledge of how money moves and the advice of attending agents to track down a suspected criminal and make an arrest.

Gee explained that CI is a federal law enforcement agency, but also understands that financial investigations are not what people ordinarily associate with law enforcement.

“What we do is basically forensic accounting, which isn’t often talked about on campuses because it’s a pretty niche subject,” he said. “Tracking down bad guys and making a difference in your community is typically something you’d associate with a law and justice major, so showing students that they have this opportunity is crucial to our recruitment efforts.”

The interactive five-hour event provided the participants with a wealth of valuable information that they can apply to their future careers.

“Just walking around throughout the day, I could hear students having great conversations with their coaches and really engaging with the material,” Gee said. “Whether it’s surveillance, data analysis, or just talking about a day in the life of one of our agents, there was a lot of learning happening in that room.”

Since accounting is a much broader field than people assume, the opportunities for exploration are endless. Gee noted that his own career path has helped inspire him to do this kind of outreach work.