Federal agents continued searching Caterpillars Headquarters building in downtown Peoria overnight. Search warrants were executed yesterday at Caterpillar offices in Peoria, East Peoria and Morton. The U.S. Attorney’s Office confirms the multi-agency investigation included the FDIC Office of Inspector General, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and the US Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement.
The warrants are identical except for the locations to be searched. Agents are allowed to collect a wide range of documents, software and hardware. Specifically of interest is Caterpillar’s U.S. business transactions with its Swiss subsidiary, CSARL. A 2014 Senate investigation asserts Caterpillar used the subsidiary to avoid paying $2.4 billion in taxes over a period of 13 years. It’s unclear if the criminal investigation is directly related, but language in the search warrant is heavy on Caterpillar’s business exports with Switzerland and CSARL.