In a press release issued a few days ago, a downstate FBI office announced that it has organized a working group including the IRS Criminal Investigations Division and the SBA Office of Inspector General to combat PPP and EIDL Loan fraud.
The group is targeting criminals who have
1 – Inflated their payroll expenses to obtain larger loans
2 – Created fake companies and identities to obtain loans
3 – Organized criminal networks that submit identical loan applications under different company names
Once received, the money is used for personal gain.
Supposedly this threat is rising at a record pace. I had never thought of doing such a thing because I’m not a criminal, but given some of the loans that I’ve seen, it probably wouldn’t be difficult to defraud the system.
The reason that the press release caught my eye was that it included the Criminal Investigations Division of the IRS. CID officers are the thing of legend in our business. Please understand that there are three basic types of IRS employees.
Revenue Agents who conduct audits. Revenue Officers who collect money. By far, the CID Officers are the most impressive. They are extremely well-educated and well-spoken. They carry Glock-19’s and go after drug dealers and organized crime figures.
Trust me when I say that if they’re coming, they aren’t playing.
Let me leave you with this.
In a continuation of my series on planning for the future, today I’ll discuss the concept of Artificial Intelligence. As computer technology becomes exponentially better at understanding our world, traditional industries will continue being disrupted.
AI is already affecting healthcare, autonomous cars, education, 3D printing, and agriculture. This year, a computer beat the best Go-player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.
Young lawyers are having difficulty getting employed because IBM’s WATSON gives legal advice on the basic stuff with 90% accuracy compared to 70% accuracy when done by humans. One prediction is that we will need 90% fewer lawyers in the future.
WATSON helps nurses diagnose cancer and is four times more accurate than it’s human counterparts.
Companies are currently building a medical device aptly named a Tricorder X, after the Star Trek series. It will work in conjunction with your phone, will take a retina scan, a sample of your blood, then you breathe into it. Then it analyzes 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease.
My question to all of you is what would you do if they invented a machine that could do your job?
Have you thought about this? Maybe you should because it’s now entirely possible. Only whatever God you pray to has any idea either if or when this would be possible, but what would you do? How would you survive? Is there a way to position your business so that it would continue?
There is one conclusion that’s unmistakable.
Many who are expecting to be able to sell their businesses when they retire, so that they can have enough money to retire comfortably, may be sadly mistaken. If a substantial part of your retirement plan is to get a large chunk of cash when you sell your business, then maybe you should change your plan.
Maybe you should spend the next ten or twenty years putting enough away so that whatever happens, you and your family will be fine.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
Accounting Solutions Ltd. stands ready to complete our mission and purpose of protecting you, your family, and your business. If there is anything you need, whether you are a current client or not, you have but to ask. I’m here and I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Chris Amundson
President
Accounting Solutions Ltd.
773-267-7500
www.AccountingSolutionsLtd.com
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