If you have heard of Al Capone and you will understand what I am talking about when I say that it was the Accountants who took on the Mob.

Al Capone was a legendary criminal. He never finished his sixth grade but the man was not stupid. At the age of 26 he became the head of Chicago’s underworld. He gained a stature of an international celebrity because of the odd blend of charm and brutality. In the year 1930, he was the top most wanted man in Chicago.

Chicago in 1920s was facing a lot of brutality and killings. The rival gangs were killing each other and their drive-by shootings became quite common. No one was safe:  neither general people nor public servants. The gangland murders which previously totaled to 16 in  a year, in his rule increased to a massive total of 64.

Al Capone was basically from NY but drifted to the west later on. His career as a gangster started when he was working under the crime leader Johnny Torrio. Johnny was involved in the inner circle of gangsters. After his death, Capone took over and consolidated his criminal career with prostitution, gambling, extortion and liquor racket. He made piles of money from his business ventures, which actually came from the killings and crimes but the case that was handled by his prosecutors make it look like a tax evasion.

He was an astute businessman. He hid most of his illegal earnings and never endorsed a single check in his lifetime. He did not maintain a bank account in his name and therefore conducted all his dealings in cash. After long inquiries and searches, the government was able to find out few people who agreed to testify against him and finally filed a case of tax evasion.

He was ultimately found guilty on that ground and was sentenced to a ten year long imprisonment and one year in Chicago prison. While he was serving his imprisonment Capone contracted Syphilis and brain damage as well. He grew insane after the seventh year due to an infection.

The year 1946 saw the death of Al Capone. His death had quite unexpected effect on the legitimate citizens as well as criminals. They began paying IRS for their back taxes. A grand total of $1million was deposited in the name of unpaid tax-fillings and this amount was just double the amount the previous year’s total.

It was only through the ingenuity of the accountants that a dangerous criminal like Al Capone was arrested. And it is also because of the hard work put in by these Accountants that the common people re-established their belief in the government.