Page 85 - profiles 2019 working copy containing all bios as of Feb 20 final version

Harrisburg, Pa., Houston, Texas, and Oklahoma City, Okla. The Agency was
responsible for assuring the safety/soundness of National Banks in the U.S.

After 23 years, I transferred to the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) as the
Examination Supervisor of the new Springfield District, Albany, N.Y.,
responsible for examining FCA banks located in New York, New Jersey, and

all of New England. I then transferred to the Headquarters in McLain, Va.,
serving on the Chairman’s Task Force to revise the agencies overall
communications system. I retired in January 1992.

I am Richard Karakantas and I began my 34-year career as a Revenue Agent
with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Wilmington, Del. Early on, I
played a role in stopping the Tax Protester movement in Delaware. I would

put W-2 employees back on withholding when they filed fraudulent W-4s with
their employer. I testified at court trials as the leaders of the protester
movement were charged with various offenses.

I also matched up interest and dividend information reported to the IRS from
financial institutions with what taxpayers reported on their tax returns. One

day, I noticed a fairly large sum of interest from a local bank not reported on a
taxpayer’s return. I arranged to talk to the taxpayer at her home. When I
asked her about the interest from the local bank, she said she closed that
account years ago. I said, "Well I have an account number on my document

so why don’t you call the bank and ask them?" The taxpayer called and sure
enough the account was still open and had money in it. The lady was so
excited she said it was like finding lost money. She thanked me for coming

out and finding it. I then reminded her she had to pay the tax on the interest
from the account. She said she would be happy to and she wrote a check to
the IRS on the spot.

Later in my career, I audited large companies in Philadelphia, Pa. I brought in
millions of dollars in tax money to the U.S. Treasury. Some of my
adjustments involved domestic issues. Other adjustments were made to bring

money back from overseas. Companies were setting up off shore entities to
shield U.S. source income from U.S. income tax. It was important to get this
money back in our country and have the tax paid on it.

I was employed to uphold the tax laws of the United States. At the IRS, I
played an important role in funding our democracy. As Oliver Wendell
Holmes said, “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.”

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