IRS Apologizes to Hedge Fund Magnate Over Leaked Tax Returns

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued an apology as a part of a settlement agreement with hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin, who had sued after a government contractor leaked his confidential tax information.

The Citadel LLC owner filed the complaint against the IRS after a government contractor disclosed his confidential tax information to the nonprofit investigative journalism platform ProPublica in 2019. According to the complaint, the contractor the IRS identified as Charles Littlejohn “exploited the IRS’s willful failure” to set up “adequate, administrative, technical, and physical safeguards” to protect its data.

The IRS apologized to Mr. Griffin and “the thousands of other Americans whose personal information was leaked to the press,” in a June 25 statement. Both Mr. Griffin and the IRS filed a motion to dismiss the case on June 24.

“The IRS takes its responsibilities seriously and acknowledges that it failed to prevent Mr. Littlejohn’s criminal conduct and unlawful disclosure of Mr. Griffin’s confidential data,” the IRS said. “Accordingly, the IRS assures Mr. Griffin and the other victims of Mr. Littlejohn’s actions that it has made substantial investments in its data security to strengthen its safeguarding of taxpayer information.”

In January, the Department of Justice announced that Mr. Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison for disclosing private tax returns, a charge to which he pleaded guilty in October 2023.

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