The United States faces a growing threat of transnational cybercrime, particularly against its financial system. In what may be the largest prosecution of its kind in U.S. history, the U.S. Department of Justice has charged Texas tech billionaire Bob Brockman in a 39-count indictment with evading $2 billion in taxes. The businessman used encrypted devices and code words to conceal his wire fraud, tax fraud and money laundering within a network of offshore entities and bank accounts.
As the CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds Co., Brockman contributed 6.4% to the United States’ current annual deficit of $3.1 trillion — more than double the previous record of $1.4 trillion set bailing out the 2007–2008 credit crisis. Aside from Brockman’s tax fraud, the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the debt, as both shrinking revenues and heightened spending intensify along with rising daily coronavirus infections, which have now hit 8 million people in the U.S. and 39 million worldwide.