Press Room
27 December | 2007
120 years of IRS experience - Auditing firm uncovered wrongdoing in sheriff's office


Collectively they have more than 120 years of Internal Revenue Service experience. They've taken down mobsters and chief executives. Now, four men from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Rachlin LLP have uncovered nine years of alleged embezzling in the Dorchester County Sheriff's office.

Ron Wise, Jose Marrero, Luis Rivera and Chuck Taylor work for Rachlin conducting forensic audits and law enforcement management consulting.

The group all knew or worked with each other at the IRS, but since then, two things have changed. They don't carry guns or badges anymore. One thing has remained constant though: their work on a case when the financial figures don't add up.

"We bring something different to the table than CPA firms," Wise says.

They specialize in forensic audits and have the law enforcement background as well, he says.

"When I do an audit, I interview key officials, see how the system is supposed to work and then look at the holes. Once I understand the system, the one thing I ask is can all the revenue be accounted for," Wise said.

Not all the revenue was being accounted for at the sheriff's department. Wise's findings showed money missing from the jail fund, which is collected through different revenue streams from inmate uses. Former jail captain Arnold Pastor resigned after being confronted; an investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division is ongoing.

"It's important to look beyond the books and the records. Look at trends, holes in the system and weaknesses. I'm looking for things that don't fit," Wise said.

Before getting started on the audit, Wise and his three colleagues had never worked with Dorchester County before; he believed he wasn't going to find any wrongdoing.

"You have to go in and be objective. You're nothing more than a fact finder," Wise said.

Wise spent 32 years with the IRS. There he served as a special agent, instructor, supervisory special agent, branch chief and senior analyst. He's looked into money laundering schemes, civil and criminal forfeitures, currency violations and racketeering -- just to name a few.

And of the reaction he used to get when informing people in social situations that he worked for the IRS, he said, "Some people were intrigued, some weren't so intrigued." Marrero was Wise's Special Agent in Charge in South Florida, while working for the IRS. He has more than 28 years of experience with the tax entity. As the SIC in South Florida, he was responsible for all criminal investigation resources in South Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Wise says Marrero, a partner with Rachlin, came to company when leaving the IRS several years ago and really convinced the 50-year-old firm to make more of a move towards forensic auditing with former law enforcement agents.

Rivera has more than 28 years experience with the IRS and the Agency for International Development. He served as assistant special agent in charge of Miami, Fla.'s field office. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, he served as the deputy director to the U.S. Treasury multi-agency Greenquest task force, which worked to trace the finances of terrorist groups.

Taylor is described as a "computer expert" by Wise. He has more than 32 years experience in fraud investigation and management as a special agent for the Criminal Investigations arm of the IRS. He has written numerous programs to strip information from non-database format electronic data and convert it to records in a database.

Rachlin LLP have been paid $45,000 by Dorchester County for their services. The forensic audit was ordered in June by County Council after the sheriff's office exceeded their budget.

Another $15,000 has been allocated by County Council for Wise and his associates to look further into the office. Among the findings the original audit recommended digging into was:

• Complete the analysis of the Bank of America account, which former Capt. Arnold Pastor is accused of diverting checks into
• Identify personal assets of Pastor, which can be used for restitution for the county
• Identify additional evidence required to complete the investigation.
• Examine the relationship between S & R Promotions and the sheriff's office, which is being scrutinized for vague and sequential invoices.