(WREG) When Mitch Hirsch went to the bank in May 2012, the teller delivered some unexpected news: the bank account he and his two brothers, Jeff and Richard, used to deposit the proceeds from their convenience store distribution business had been commandeered by the federal government.
Later that day, Mitch’s older brother Jeff got a letter from the IRS; it explained that the brothers’ pattern of making frequent and small deposits had drawn suspicion. The Hirsch brothers did business with small delis and gas stations, and often made cash deposits in their account. But the IRS apparently mistook these transactions for the behavior of a drug dealer or a terrorist trying to fly below the radar.
Mitchel’s older brother Jeff called the local joint-IRS task force in Nassau County, New York to clear up the misunderstanding. He even invited the detective in charge to come down to his warehouse and go through his business records. The detective, Jeff said, explained that it wasn’t his job to investigate any further — the pattern of deposits was all the evidence he needed.
