Thread by @LAFinTexas

BREAKING: Can confirm alliantgroup LP’s offices in Houston are being raided by the criminal investigation unit of the IRS. /1

https://twitter.com/RatchetNerd_/status/1527689535911493634

This could be a huge story, as alliantgroup collects former IRS commissioners to their Strategic Advisory Board like baseball cards. /2. alliantgroup.com/strategic-advi…

Former employees of alliantgroup are celebrating the raid news. The company has a bad reputation as an employer as shown through Glassdoor reviews. AG allegedly requires employees to post good reviews to balance the #s. /3 glassdoor.com/Reviews/allian…

I say allegedly because ag has a well earned history of being litigious. /4 chron.com/business/artic…

This article from the Houston Chronicle has all the ☕️. I wish I could find the old Houston Press articles on ag’s and it’s CEO’s other allegedly dubious practices. /5 chron.com/business/artic…

Can confirm from photos of the raid that the IRS Criminal Investigation unit is on the scene. Some background on these investigations can be found here: /6 irs.gov/compliance/cri…

Story starting to get noticed. /7 goingconcern.com/the-irs-is-pay…

This photo has been somewhat gleefully passed around by former employees following the IRS criminal investigation raid on ag. It is included in the article linked above. (Again, ag plz don’t sue me lol). /8

Putting my life on the line here for all 165 of my diligent followers. 😉 /9

To continue painting the picture of ag’s practices (and why so many former employees are celebrating happy hour early today), here are some of the ag lawsuits with former employees. This one is against someone that started a competing firm (allegedly). /9 casetext.com/case/alliantgr…

Another lawsuit, this one about that pesky Fair Labor Standards Act. /10 casetext.com/case/norman-v-…

Another lawsuit against an employee trying to work somewhere else (allegedly). /11 caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-ap…

This litigious rep of ag is noteworthy due to a common cult analogy within alliantgroup, aka “the blue a”. Employees laugh about ‘drinking the blue koolaid’. Many cults/high control groups are litigious (Nxivm, Scientology, etc). /11

Aspects of alliantgroup are ‘just a little bit culty’ (to ref the fascinating @alittlebitculty podcast on the subject). For ex, ag has its own readiness drills. The CEO sent emails out in the middle of the night to allegedly see who immediately replied. /12

Nothing like waking up to 500+ reply all emails congratulating the latest promotion or achievement. Allegedly this was done for the CEO shown below, to see who worked around the clock versus lazy slackers that slept at night. /13

I’m hearing that the IRS Criminal Investigation raid on alliantgroup allegedly has to do with the 179D racketeering lawsuits filed years ago. Pending confirmation. /14 casemine.com/judgement/us/5…

Ask and thou shalt receive. Here is the Houston Press article with lots of hot steamy tea on ag. 🫖🔥☕️ Thanks for sending my way! /15 web.archive.org/web/2019091410…

Other alliantgroup aspects that are a little bit culty: Ex-employees describe needing time to “normalize” after working there. Sleep deprivation. Shunning rituals. /16

Glassdoor reviews on alliantgroup has common threads, including references to toxicity and zero work life balance. Ex employees recall hearing the phrase “work life integration” being used by managers. /17

“Work life integration” was experienced at ag to mean all your friends are at work, you date people from work, and slowly lose connections with family and other friends. Yet another ag aspect that’s a lil bit culty. /18

A day in the life at ag, but I seem to recall leaving at 6:30 to be a big no-no at ag. Note their comments on the company culture, this can take odd forms at ag. /19

A brave sole posted this video of the IRS Criminal Investigation raid on alliantgroup. #plzdontsueus /20

https://twitter.com/MichelleLinBall/status/1527713417359917058

Employees seem to be in a bit of shock and mirth. Jokes about Happy Half-Day Friday. (A joke at ag given the rigorous billing and other requirements to make earning half day Fridays incredibly difficult to obtain). Allegedly. /21

My fav joke so far from an ag employee: Zero billing on the weekend? WTF??!??

Former employees discuss catching up on work over the weekends and to keep up with the allegedly rigorous billing requirements. /22

More photos from the raid. Lotta people with a lotta beef with this company. Those white staircases are pretty but slippery AF. Just painting the scene here folks. /23

https://twitter.com/houston_euler/status/1527693730647531523

Tsk tsk somebody’s doesn’t have a key card! Looks like security asking in during the raid. The ag building in Houston is quite secure. Sitting next to the doors by the elevator bank was a good way to get your daily steps in, bouncing up to let people in as needed. /24

Major Houston news outlet @KHOU covering the story. /25 khou.com/article/news/l…

Y’all don’t be surprised that major news outlets won’t report the name alliantgroup yet. (Their attorneys are clearly smarter than I am). @KHOU is referring to a “Galleria-area company”. The Houston ag building is across the street from the water wall. /26

Bit more context for the peanut gallery- Here is the park with the Houston water wall across the street from ag. Always a good spot for a cry or to console a coworker during a hard day. The cascading water thematically paired well with the tears. /27

It was more normal to hear crying in the bathrooms, but the water wall was much a more visually dynamic spot for a break down. /28

I’m hearing through the grapevine that CEO and upper management escorted out of the Houston alliantgroup building by IRS agents. One upper manager was seen laughing and smiling. I haven’t been able to confirm this yet. /29

Getting conflicting reports of whether upper mgmt was even in the office during the raid. It was not unusual for execs to skip out on Fridays so that’s not terribly surprising.

AG has LOTS of attorneys so mgmt would know to appear calm during the raid. /30

Check out this site for some interesting updates on the alliantgroup raid today. /31 goingconcern.com/the-irs-is-pay…

Photo context from the article just linked, looking out from the 1st floor lobby of the ag building. There is a driveway in front with the HPD vehicles.

Some employees would quit ag by unceremoniously dropping their laptops and badges at the security desk in the lobby. /32

An inside joke was “Bye Felicia” (from Ice Cube’s character in Friday). Many ag folks didn’t realize what they were quoting. 🤣
Always hoped those that quit by dropping off laptops to lobby security got in one last Bye Felicia for good measure. /33

These handsome devils are shown outside the alliantgroup building in the Galleria area of Houston.

🎶 Bad boys, Bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? 🎵🎵
/34

Personally, my last day at ag included playing some Beastie Boys Sabotage very loudly with the windows down, tires squealing outta that place, middle finger in the air as a final salute.

#ShareYourAGquittingStory

/35

You sleuths are amazing! We believe one of our ‘handsome devils’ (IRS agents in the photo above outside ag) is Ramsey E. Covington, the new special agent in charge of the Houston IRS field office. /36

Some background on Ramsey E. Covington, the special agent in charge of the Houston IRS - Criminal Investigation unit since January 2022. With over 2 decades of IRS experience, this gentleman is not messing around. /37 irs.gov/compliance/cri…

Mr. Covington transferred to the Houston field office in 2017 from the Washington DC office. That means serious business. Here are some of the big wins coming out of IRS CI from 2021. /38

irs.gov/newsroom/irs-c…

Redditors weighing in on the alliantgroup raid today as well as whether the CEO was likely to be present on a Friday. I literally did a spit take over the Batman bed comment.

Notice the reference to throwaway accounts. There is a lot of fear surrounding this company. /39

The Batman bed is another inside ag joke. The CEO had a Batman parking sign in front of his parking spot for his luxury vehicles.

Some used to joke that they needed a Robin sign for the other founding member. /40

A bit more background on the ag CEO and movies. He would often rent out an entire theater at night to see the latest flick and invite employees to join. It was awesome!

The not-so-awesome part was AFTER the movie, when the speeches would start… /41

We’re talking sometimes an hour or more of speeches, lots of brown nosing, often starting and ending well after midnight. The trick was to get up 5 minutes before the end of the movie and sneak out.

I never did see the end of Blade Runner 2049…

/42

The movie events go to the ag readiness drills. Execs and employees that won awards were automatically invited. Then an email would go out offering extra seats to the first to reply. Allegedly another way to check who constantly monitored emails, as often sent out late pm. /43

AG just tweeted this out. I can’t imagine their 4 ex-IRS commissioners are happy about the shout out at the moment. /44

Y’all getting snarky in alliantgroup tweet replies
🤣🔥 /45

That last comment… 🤣🤣🤣 /46

The other point about the movie theater story and some of the other themes of this thread is that ag employees (allegedly) felt paranoia or ‘watched’ over their responses to the smallest instances.

You couldn’t leave in the middle of speeches, that would go against ag ‘culture’

Probably the copious 🍾🎊🥂celebrations taking place since the raid began this morning talking, but former ag employees are circulating/speculating/drooling for drama with the rumor the CEO left the country. Definitely unconfirmed. /48

Some legal perspective on the ag raid today and the article linked above. It’s not uncommon that the IRS agents are not handing over the warrant or discussing charges with the hundreds (or 1000+ ??) employees in the building . /49

When federal special agents are involved, it’s a good time to hush, obey, say as little as possible, and gtfo outta there. Definitely NEVER lie. Don’t talk if you need a lawyer. A 1001 count is no joke. /50

(This is not legal advice).

Houston station Fox 26 getting into the action. They name the address but not the company alliantgroup.
/51

fox26houston.com/news/irs-condu…

Although the articles talk of the Post Oak building being raided by the IRS Crimes Investigation unit, more likely it was the 15-20th floors. I believe the 15th floor is still used for mostly storage, but the 16-20th floors are actively used by ag. /52

The ag floors of the building are connected by internal stairs. That way you don’t have to go through the badge readers to get between company floors like when using the elevator.

The stairs were convenient & pretty, but could be slippery & terrifying to traverse in heels.

But why would the stairs get slippery, you ask?

ag isn’t entirely evil & bad. They have free lunches, gym, and offer yoga classes and such. Nice perks! (Sometimes slippery stairs).

These perks and a beautiful building helps win awards for ag being a ‘Best Place to Work’.

But these awards apparently do not take many aspects into account, such as negative media articles & employee Glassdoor reviews. These Best Place to Work awards have been recognized as problem for quite some time. /55 cbsnews.com/news/the-troub…

alliantgroup has consistently won Best Place to Work awards despite the problematic Houston Press & Houston Chronicle articles linked above.

This snarky reply still has me giggling. /56

But in all seriousness, these awards help enable a company with hundreds (or thousands) of alarming reviews on sites such as Glassdoor.

ag allegedly targets new college graduates to hire, who may not realize what is or isn’t normal or even toxic workplace conditions. /57

Some interviewees and new hires spot 🚩🚩🚩& gtfo immediately.

Just before I left, ag would have employees line up to cheer first day new hires with rowdy clapping lines. Can’t recall with certainty if pompoms involved…

Allegedly quite a lot of love bombing at the start. /58

There were always rumors circulating around ag about the high turnover numbers. Here is an old Glassdoor from 2016 HR.

Ex-employees often expressed guilt about leaving because the workloads were already so untenable and added to the pressure of their coworkers/fellow POW’s. /59

If you’re following #DeppVsHeard then your probably screaming “hearsay” all over this thread. 🤣

Also if you aren’t following/watching @TheEmilyDBaker commentary on YouTube then it’s time to start over and binge from day 1. /60

Some friends are worried it’s foolish for me to speak out about issues surrounding alliantgroup. Although I’m trying to be cautious of my language,
they may be right.

Let me explain why I’m taking this risk. /61

I have felt some shame around #GamerGate for not speaking up about my experience when the story was burgeoning. Although I had a great overall experience working at Blizzard Entertainment, there was an incident with HR that I regret not coming forward at the time or after. /62

Similarly, I have regrets about not taking a stand and speaking up about incidents at alliantgroup. I let the fear of an (allegedly) litigious company win out.

I’m not calling out those staying silent, because I totally understand. But my experience has been one of regret. /63

That is why I’m adding context to the ag raid by the IRS criminal investigation, allegedly about tax.

The allegedly toxic workplace issues are another story. The more buzz about these will hopefully help spare others from unknowingly entering a potentially bad situation. /64

I can’t believe I forgot to talk about the alliantgroup shunning rituals!

Here is my recollection of what happened when someone quit, was fired, or was counseled out from ag. With the turnover, it felt like this happened a lot. /65

Typically on Fridays, your entire team would be piled into a managers office. I recall always looking around to see who was missing. You would be informed someone quit/was fired. Then it’s time for verbal group buy in… /66

From my general recollection, they would go around the room and everyone would say things to demonstrate the acceptance of the situation and loyalty to the company.

If you knew someone was quitting, best to act surprised AF in that meeting. /67

Some of the acting that occurred in those meetings was truly first rate.

It was important to get your story straight with your friend leaving before getting pulled on and sometimes questioned about what you knew and what you did. /68

But back to the shunning! After someone left ag, everyone was strongly discouraged (allegedly) from interacting with them. As with many high control groups, you could leave and lose your friend group overnight.

Recall prior friendships outside ag may have been alienated. /69

Many groups that are a lil bit culty have shunning rituals (Amish, Scientology, etc). It’s an effective persuasive tool via fear, guilt, & shame.

But the most ridiculous shunning I ever observed at ag was between two cousins that were very close. /70

From what I was told (objection! hearsay! 🤓) :

The cousins grew up close and always went on an annual vacation together. This continued after they both worked at ag, and shortly after one of them unceremoniously quit. /71

The cousin still working at alliantgroup was allegedly pulled into a meeting to ascertain her loyalty to the company and to encourage them to stop interacting with HER OWN COUSIN.

I can’t recall if she quit ag that day or shortly thereafter. /72

How were the cousins allegedly discovered by ag to continuing their relationship as family members? By posting pics of their annual family vacation to Facebook. That is what allegedly sparked the loyalty interrogation for the cousin still at the company. /73

Houston Press article has been updated. This news organization has a long history reporting on alliantgroup over the years. Definitely one to watch!

Houston Chronicle also covered the raid. /74

houstonpress.com/news/irs-raids…

Houston Press bringing receipts! /75

Ok we need to talk about the alliantgroup “Raves” but I’m going to need to get into the spirit first. Perhaps some fireball or pickle shot for old times ag sake?

(Sorry to the ex ag’ers reading this thread that just had a twinge of hangover memory there haha). /76

Here is a photo of the inside staircases running through the top floors of the alliantgroup building in Houston. The building really is very cool. /77

Ok back to the alliantgroup Raves! Here is some context from the Houston Press article linked above somewhere in this ridiculously long thread. /78

To be fair, the referenced HR team’s performance of All I Do is Win was 🔥🔥🔥 that night.

I still carry scars from the finance director’s I’m Too Sexy act.

Some images are forever seared into the mind… /79

Raves typically happened just after each busy tax season twice a year. After several months of limited time for family and friends, and not being allowed to take PTO excepting special circumstances, AG expected employees to party late on a Thursday night. /80

This mandatory fun was part of the ag culture. If someone missed a raid, it was best to prepare a story before inevitable confrontation by your supervisor. If someone missed too many raids, then one could be accused of not embracing the company ‘culture’. /81

Don’t get me wrong, the raves were super fun! But not for people with spouses, children, and pets that they needed to be home with on their personal time. Friends shared strategies to sneak out early & avoid notice. Again, the common theme of feeling ‘watched’. (Allegedly) /82

Before the HP expose, the Raves were (allegedly) more wild. If I recall, they started dialing back after the articles, with only beer/wine and not hard liquor.

But the issue with the Raves isn’t just hosting the same lip syncing themed party over and over and over again. /83

Teams and friends from ag would go to bars & restaurants to have fun outside of the office and off the clock.

On the other hand, riding down the elevator in your workplace with vomit in the corner is a surreal experience. /84

The Friday after an ag rave was always filled with the hot gossip & steamy tea. Who hooked up. Who quarreled. Who was too hungover to come into work.

Veterans knew they could roll in a few hours late. Newbies would arrive punctual and bleary eyed.
/85

The only time I witnessed a near insurrection at ag was a Friday am after a Rave night. A mass email had gone out promising breakfast, which was apparently served around 3 am.

(I heard it was served shortly after yours truly exited the party)… /86

But everyone arrived Friday morning at work, hungover & expecting a company provided breakfast, only to find it had occurred just after the Rave. Y’all there was practically rioting in the “pods”. The urgency of the calls to Chick-fil-A was real. /87

Sleuths are reporting that the alliantgroup Instagram account was up a few hours ago but is now offline.

Perhaps the ag marketing department is finally catching up to the teensy detail the company was raided by the IRS criminal investigation unit in Houston today? /88

Reddit weighing in on the true reason for the IRS criminal investigation unit’s raid on alliantgroup in Houston today. 🤣

#MoreFlair #NextFridayIsHawaiianShirtDay

Another video making the rounds from the alliantgroup raid by the IRS criminal unit today. That’s a lot of agents! /90

Bit of video context showing the lobby on 1st floor. The grey seats and tables are part of the cafe (off to the right). The wooden oval in the middle is the security desk that sometimes people would quit ag by leaving their laptop and badge with a hapless guard. /91

Abrupt departures were a regular occurrence. One teammate quit by highlighting their employee manual and leaving it on their boss’ desk with his badge/laptop at midnight.

Once the security desk drop off method started it somewhat took off as a trend.

Allegedly. /92

Then there were the firings. An employee would be pulled into an office with a manager and HR. Someone would quietly collect their items. They would disappear. Then the team was pulled into an office to be told. Usually on a Friday unless something really went down. /93

Rumor had it that you had to fire someone at alliantgroup in order to get certain promotions. I cannot confirm this however. /94

Going Concern reporting CEO dined with a collection of ag bros at Songkran Thai Kitchen today. CEO not included in the group pic but linked in the Insta post. Uncertain from the insta wording whether CEO actually there or whether he comped the meal & they’re saying thx? /95

Some of the more savage Reddit comments 🤣🤣🤣
/96

Odd incidents would lead to rabid speculation circling the ag halls. One of the juiciest mea culpas included the sexual proclivities that took out the ping pong table. 🐝

The grossest mea culpa by far was poopgate at the old office (before my time at the company). 🤢

/97

To answer a ?:

I left AG voluntarily. I think I provided a 2 month verbal notice and a 6 week written notice. I was only partially shunned, as I received a few project team calls after leaving to discuss some file nuances. To be fair, most of my friends had already left ag. /98

Another Q: it’s convenient you’re no longer silent now you have nothing to lose.

The thread is pretty clear about ag’s tendencies to sue people/former employees. Perhaps we lawyers better understand this risk. /99

But the ‘why now’ question is fair. My reason is that ag was raided by the IRS criminal investigation unit on Friday. If you followed the #GamerGate progression, then you’ll see how scrutiny on an organization can lend itself to positive change. /100

Like many many others, I tried to help bring positive change to ag with my very limited scope of influence while there. Anyone can read Glassdoor reviews going back years repeatedly discussing the same pervasive issues. These aren’t secret issues that need to improve. /101

Also, although my friends have left the company, there are still excellent people working there that deserve a healthy working environment that many comments allege is deficient. If this can help mgmt wake up to those deficiencies so much the better. /102

Blocked my first troll! 👹

Another ?: why did you quit ag?

After a particularly grueling tax season I just couldn’t do it anymore. My body and spirit were giving out. Totally burnt out. I confided to a known narc and began the counseling out process within a few days. /103

That’s admittedly a weird way to leave a company worked at for over 4 years. It was allegedly difficult to many to leave ag, and in particular without burning unnecessary bridges. Until my tweets today I believe I have been in relatively good standing with ag. /104

An unpopular opinion is that I still like and admire many managers at ag as individuals. Learned a lot from them!

I take issue with the culture as a whole. It makes me sad to likely be persona non grata now, but maybe my tiny voice will help make some positive change. /105

Hope all current ag employees are enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend and following their alleged IRS homework assignment - no working or server access allowed folks. /106

Uber Eats driver serving ☕️ on the CEO’s bat mobile on the Reddit thread. I wish I could find my old photos, dude has some niiiiice cars. /107

Reddit throwing shade on the banner on the alliantgroup building visible from Interstate 610. 😎

Included a bit of context for non-Houstonians on the iconic Be Someone graffiti art joke:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Someon…

Savage Reddit thread playing the IRS raid off the alliantgroup core values

The core values are routinely used in alliantgroup vernacular.

/109

When I started at ag, the Core Value signs showed $ symbol next to Investment. I remember a team switching out the posters when they replaced the $ with the people symbol instead. /110

Craig!

Another very popular reference to the Friday movie used commonly at ag. Again, it was a mixed bag on who understood the reference or not. 🤣

/111

abc13 article reports the IRS criminal investigation unit raid of alliantgroup began at 10 am on Friday.

I found out about the raid at 10:35. Drama always did spread fast at ag!

/112