The Internal Revenue Service has opened 20 criminal investigations in its crackdown on the evasion of sanctions that the U.S. imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an official said. The law-enforcement unit at the tax-collection agency opened the probes as part of its work with Task Force KleptoCapture and continues to develop new leads, Guy Ficco, the criminal investigation division’s deputy chief, said at a press conference Thursday. The IRS has taken a leading role in the task force, but the 20 investigations cited aren’t the total number of probes by all task force members, Mr. Ficco said. The IRS’s criminal investigation division expects to significantly increase its number of special agents, said division chief Jim Lee. About 91% of IRS criminal investigation cases referred to prosecutors lead to convictions, Mr. Lee said.

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