The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals supported the government’s position that two fugitives accused of tax evasion could not have access to IRS records assembled as part of the criminal investigation against them.
The two fugitives, both U.S. citizens, most likely fled to China to evade a criminal trial while in the meantime the IRS initiated a civil investigation of their companies and assessed them $1.75 million in back taxes, penalties and interest. The attorney for the fugitives then requested the investigative documents under the Freedom of Information Act. -db
From the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, March 15, 2012, by You-Jin Han.