Newspaper records can include want ads, payment records, and clippings on a given person assembled in one file with photographs, notes, unpublished data, etc.

Oil companies maintain the records listed in the sections below.

If a photograph of an individual is needed, driver’s licenses are the most likely source. Additional sources may include relatives, associates, and friends; places of employment; police and FBI files; and school yearbooks.

Private business records may include personnel & payroll records; customer account information; and leads to other companies with whom the subject transacted business.

Publication records may include professional, trade, and agriculture directories and magazines; vanity publications such as Who’s Who of America and various states; city directories; and a variety of industry-specific periodicals.

Public utility company records may include present and previous address of subscribers, and records of payments.

Useful real estate agency or savings & loan records include: property transactions, financial statements, loan applications, payments made and received (settlement sheets), and credit files.

Title 18 USC §2703(c) provides that telephone toll records shall be disclosed to a governmental agency only when the governmental agency uses a grand jury subpoena, administrative subpoena (summons), court order or obtains a search warrant related to such information. This information may also be disclosed to the government if the government agency has obtained the consent of the customer or subscriber. Notice to the customer or subscriber is not required.

Some telephone companies require service to a specific company location.

Transportation company records may include passenger lists; reservations; payments; departure and arrival times; and freight carrier-shipper destination and storage points.

The Consumer Loan Exchange or Lenders Exchange exists in all of the large cities in the United States, as well as in some of the smaller cities. It is a non-profit organization, supported by and for its members. Most of the lending institutions are members of the exchange. It can supply information concerning open and closed loan accounts with member companies, and other information. These organizations are not listed in directories or telephone books. Their location in a city may be obtained through local lending agencies. Consumer Reports may be obtained from these organizations only by court order or in accordance with written instructions of the consumer to whom the information relates.

Inquiries will not be made by mail addressed direct to Target Corporation c/o CT Corp, 208 S. LaSalle St. Suite 814, Chicago, IL 60604. The subpoena will then be directed to the corporate office located in Minneapolis. Special agents with posts-of-duty outside Chicago requiring information from that company will make inquiry by collateral request together with a summons to the SAC, Chicago field office for such information.

Western Union has waived the hand delivery requirements of 26 USC §7603 and will accept subpoenas and summonses for money transfer records by personal service, mail, express service or fax to Western Union Financial Services Attn: Custodian of Records, 20 Corporate Hills Drive, St. Charles, MO 63301.

Credit card companies maintain the records listed in the sections below.

Car rental companies maintain the records listed in the sections below.

Horse organizations maintain the records listed in the sections below.

Amway Corporation has waived the hand delivery requirements of 26 USC §7603 and will accept summonses by personal service, mail, or overnight service at Amway Corporation, 7575 E. Fulton, Ada, MI 49355, Attn.: Director, Legal Division. Direct distributors who further qualify for profit sharing bonuses receive the non-cash part of that bonus through a mutual fund account administered by Amway Mutual Fund, Inc., 7575 E. Fulton, Ada, MI 49355, which requires a separate summons.

For all international investigative matters, either formal or informal, the field office's first point of contact must be the Director, CI:OPS:I or CI Country Attaché.

Formal requests for information or assistance from a foreign country can be made pursuant to the following (see IRM 9.4.2, Sources of Information, for further details about these mechanisms):

Information or assistance from a foreign country includes:

All formal requests for information or assistance from a foreign country should be submitted by a collateral to the Director, CI:OPS:I unless otherwise instructed.

Subsection 9.4.4.4.3 details the information to be included in the collateral.

Documents and reports received from foreign countries, or from embassies or consulates of foreign countries, and made available to CI personnel will not be furnished to another government agency, except as may be permitted by statute and/or the applicable treaty.

When a foreign government makes direct inquiry of CI personnel or when it is learned that a foreign government is interested in an investigation, such information will be immediately referred by the SAC to the Director, CI:OPS:I for coordination purposes.

See IRM 9.4.12, Arrests for procedures to arrest an individual in a foreign country.

The procedures for obtaining taxpayer or tax return information, as defined in 26 USC §6103, from foreign countries also apply to requests for information from Canada. However, because of the unique relationship between Canada and the United States, an exception to these procedures is allowed in the following circumstance:

Upon approval by CI:OPS:I, the CI Country Attaché will obtain the necessary clearances and furnish the originating office with the procedure to be followed and, where appropriate, the name and location of the Canadian tax official who is to be contacted by the special agent. A Canadian agent will usually accompany the special agent when third party contacts are made. If these contacts involve taxpayer or tax return information, then approval for such contact must be obtained from the US Competent Authority.

Requests for information from Canada will be prepared and routed pursuant to subsection 9.4.4.4.3 which details procedures for obtaining information from foreign countries. The request will also contain the information specified in (a) below. Except under special circumstances, respective procedures should be observed in limiting a request for information to a period not to exceed 10 years immediately preceding the request. Where informal arrangements for inquiries exist in some border field offices, such field offices should identify in their formal requests those with whom they have been transacting official matters to avoid duplication of effort. There is no informal process for disclosing taxpayer or tax return information. To the extent requests to Canada involve taxpayer or tax return information, such requests must be sent to Canada by the US Competent Authority:

In some investigations, where the essential information sought is complex, involved and voluminous, it may be desirable to have preliminary discussions with Canadian authorities. If the investigation involves taxpayer or tax return information, there must first be an exchange of appropriate correspondence between Competent Authorities, prior to any preliminary discussion, to avoid a violation of 26 USC §6103. The request to hold preliminary discussions in such investigations will be prepared and routed through the Director, CI:OPS:I. Exchange of information resulting from the preliminary discussions will be formalized as early as possible and before any documents are exchanged.

If information received from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) through regular channels requires further correspondence, the SAC or his/her designee, (delegated no lower than SSA level), may communicate directly with the Canadian district office which furnished the original information pursuant to approval by the Competent Authority. However, copies of any such communication will be forwarded, one each, to the CI Country Attaché and to the Director, CI:OPS:I. Such direct communication applies only in instances where information was received through regular channels and follow-up communication is necessary. The original communication and any new areas of inquiry must be routed as prescribed above. Similarly, any CI field office, which has provided information to CCRA officials through the usual channels, may subsequently communicate directly with those officials with respect to the information provided pursuant to approval of the Competent Authority. However, copies of any such communication will be forwarded, one each, to the CI Country Attaché and the Director, CI:OPS:I. In the instances where the information is being exchanged not pursuant to the tax treaty, a copy of any such communication need only be sent to the CI Country Attaché.

In accordance with an agreement between the United States and Canadian tax officials, where the tax affairs of an individual, partnership or corporation are being investigated by the United States and the same type of investigation is also being currently conducted by CCRA, it may be advantageous to conduct the investigation pursuant to the Simultaneous Criminal Investigation Program (SCIP). This program is designed to assist in furnishing information timely (see IRM 9.4.2, Sources of Information).

Before forwarding any collateral request for foreign inquiries, field office personnel are to ensure that the information sought is vital to the successful completion of the investigation at issue. If so, the request must include or be accompanied by all pertinent information and documents required by the International function to process the request, make travel arrangements, and conduct inquiries. The request should not be repetitious of prior requests but should include:

The following data will also be included to the extent known at the time of request:

If information is sought from more than one country, the general information may be included in a single memorandum. However, any information specific to any one country, including the information sought, should be on a separate attachment.

The US Competent Authority may turn over the entire background file, and all information contained in the collateral request, to the foreign government in order to obtain the information most efficiently. The requesting special agent should specify any information, which is provided for background information but should not be released to representatives of the foreign government or source.

Identify all grand jury information contained in the collateral request and that the United States Attorney's Office authorizes its use, so it may be properly protected.

The request will be submitted in the manner described in paragraphs (1) through (3) above.

All requests will ask whether any witness in a foreign country who furnishes information would be willing to voluntarily appear in a US court, if needed.

Any inquiries should be directed to the CI Country Attaché handling the collateral.

The CI Country Attachés will update the status of the collaterals that are opened in their inventory on at least a quarterly basis and will notify the requesting special agent of the status of their inquiry at the time of the update.

Nonresident aliens physically present in a foreign country cannot be compelled to appear as witnesses in a US district court since they are beyond the jurisdiction of US officials. Since the Constitution requires confrontation of adverse witnesses in criminal prosecutions, the testimony of such aliens may not be admissible until the witness appears at trial. However, certain testimony related to the admissibility of documents may be obtained under 18 USC §3491 et seq. without a personnel appearance in the United States. Additionally, 28 USC §1783 et seq. provides limited powers to induce the appearance of US citizens physically present in a foreign country.

Expenditures necessary for witness fees and travel costs to secure witnesses from outside the United States for grand jury and district court purposes, whether US citizens or foreigners, are made from DOJ funds and are authorized only by the Attorney General upon the application of attorney for the government. All matters involving service of subpoenas abroad are also handled by the Attorney General. Special agents will identify in his/her report those witnesses from a foreign country who may be expected to voluntarily appear so that the attorney for the government may make whatever arrangements are necessary for their appearance. No commitment will be made by CI personnel concerning witness arrangements involving travel from outside the United States (other than for IRS personnel) without the full advance approval of the attorney for the government handling the case. Such arrangements should be made sufficiently in advance so that the attorney for the government can inform the Attorney General thereof.

If the special agent wishes to interview the witness in a foreign country, it may be necessary to obtain a letter of invitation from the foreign country before travel can be approved. The special agent will contact the CI Country Attaché responsible for the country to which the special agent wishes to travel to determine if the country has this condition. A letter between Competent Authorities is also required if there is a tax treaty between the United States and the foreign country.

INTERPOL can provide assistance in obtaining leads, information, and evidence from foreign countries. This request is an official request made directly to the police or criminal law enforcement authorities or another country seeking what is commonly known as police information or assistance. Police information or assistance is, generally, information that can be obtained or assistance that can be provided by law enforcement authorities without using subpoenas or another legal process. The request is pursued within the context and confines of each country's laws and policies. Cooperation by participating countries is voluntary.

Examples of the types of information and assistance include:

To request information through INTERPOL, it is recommended that the CI liaison at INTERPOL be contacted first (see Financial Crimes Web page for contact) to determine the effectiveness of obtaining the information through INTERPOL. If it is recommended that INTERPOL can help, a collateral will be submitted to the CI liaison describing the assistance needed (see Document Manager for Memo Request of INTERPOL Assistance.)

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is the FIU operating in the United States. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network can formally request assistance in gathering information on behalf of US law enforcement agencies from FIUs established in other countries. The assistance that can be provided by the foreign FIU will vary with the individual country. Only information concerning a money laundering investigation can be requested.

To request information through FinCEN, it is recommended that the CI liaison at FinCEN be contacted first (see Financial Crimes Web page for contact) to determine the effectiveness of obtaining the information through FinCEN. If it is recommended that FinCEN can help, two documents need to be submitted to the CI liaison describing the assistance needed (see Document Manager for FinCEN's Request for Research Form and the Egmont Group's Request for FIU Information Form.)