The Internal Revenue Service has formally apologised to Ken Griffin, founder of hedge fund giant Citadel, following the unauthorised release of his tax returns, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Griffin had filed a lawsuit against the IRS in December 2022, prompted by revelations that IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn had disclosed his confidential tax records to ProPublica.
Griffin’s lawsuit, which was pending in federal court in Florida, was withdrawn on 24 June following settlement negotiations.
In an apology statement on 25 June, the IRS wrote that it had “failed to prevent Mr. Littlejohn’s criminal conduct and unlawful disclosure of Mr. Griffin’s confidential data”, adding that it had since “substantial investments in its data security to strengthen its safeguarding of taxpayer information”.
Going forward, the agency said that it would “assess the IRS’s systems for potential vulnerabilities”.
Littlejohn, who had previously disclosed tax records of figures including former President Donald Trump, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence.
