A top US senator has criticised US tax authority the Internal Revenue Service for sending 19 senior staff to the annual OffshoreAlert conference in Miami.The conference, organised by OffshoreAlert publisher and former Royal Gazette business reporter David Marchant, is attended by offshore providers, clients and investigators.Chief Justice Ian Kawaley was among those from Bermuda who attended; he gave a speech.But Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has told Fox News and CNBC of his concern so many IRS officials had attended the “fancy” meeting last week.CNBC even ran some “raw footage” from inside the South Beach conference at the Ritz Carlton showing attendees enjoying a cocktail reception.“There is certainly no reason for 19 IRS employees to attend the conference,” Sen Grassley wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Monday.“In a challenging fiscal time, this is not the best use of IRS resources.”Sen Grassley is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former chairman of the Finance Committee.The IRS defended their attendance, telling CNBC: “OffshoreAlert is a widely attended international conference on combating offshore tax evasion attended by government officials from numerous countries. The IRS sent to this conference a handful of speakers and other employees who are leading different aspects of the IRS’ far-reaching anti-offshore tax evasion initiative.”The IRS added seven of those attending the conference were based locally and none of the other 12 IRS stayed at the plush Ritz Carlton, where the conference was held.The IRS said it paid more than $1,300 each in attendance fees, incurring expenses of under $18,000.“Turn to your right and you might be speaking with the head of the IRS’ offshore programmes and initiatives or the Head of Tax at the OECD, turn to your left and you might be able to engage a leading offshore provider in a conversation about how to legally minimise your taxes,” said a description of the conference by OffshoreAlert.“Somewhere in the crowd could be someone whose assets you are trying to locate or an offshore commercial court judge before whom you might have to argue a legal case.”However, Sen Grassley wrote that he was especially upset the head of the IRS whistle-blower office, Steve Whitlock, spoke at the conference.“It was brought to my attention that the Director of the IRS Whistleblower programme is currently participating in the Offshore Alert Conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Miami Beach,” Grassley wrote. “It is not clear to me how his attendance at the Conference furthers the administration of the IRS whistle-blower programme.”CNBC said it spoke with Mr Marchant, “the shaven-headed Welshman who owns OffshoreAlert”, and he told them: “Is it a good idea to attend events and speak at events that have many, many reports about topics of public interest? I would say absolutely. You’d have to be a bit of an idiot to think otherwise,” Marchant says. “The main focus of our conference is probably fraud and asset recovery. I mean I do hope you do understand this isn’t an offshore banking conference where we’re soliciting people to send their money overseas.”