The House Oversight Committee is examining the relationship between an unnamed IRS employee and the owner of Signet Computers, an information technology company.
Signet Computers received $500 million in federal contracts since 2012, the majority coming from the IRS, according to the Associated Press.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) believes there is at least a conflict of interest. He noted the IRS may be awarding contracts based on false justifications or receiving kickbacks in exchange for the contracts.
Issa wrote in a letter to acting Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin:
The fact that Signet Computers was able to secure federal contracts worth a half-billion dollars in a matter of months, despite having no track record of past performance, raises many questions.
According to the AP, the IRS may have tailored contracts so that Signet Computers was the only company that could win them.
According to the letter, a whistle-blower contacted the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration in August 2012 with evidence that the unidentified IRS staffer directed contracts to Castillo and Signet Computers. In January, according to the letter, a separate whistle-blower wrote to the Small Business Administration with similar concerns.
Issa asks for a series of documents related to Castillo and Signet from the IRS to be delivered to the committee by March 6 so it can continue its investigation.