The government watchdog overseeing the IRS announced Wednesday that three IRS employees are facing prison time for their efforts to defraud the government.
The IRS has been targeted by Republicans as an agency in desperate need of reform, after the agency announced it was targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration routinely reports on other problems related to the conduct of IRS workers, and announced three new developments related to IRS mischief:
Taking bribes
Paul G. Hurley, who worked in Seattle, was found guilty of taking bribes from a part owner of a chain of recreational marijuana shops.
“Hurley seemed sympathetic to the taxpayer regarding the [Internal Revenue Code’s] prohibition against deductions and credits for businesses in the marijuana industry and talked about being unhappy at the IRS,” the watchdog said.
Hurley bragged about saving the business owner $1 million, and said he was living “paycheck to paycheck.”
“Initially, Hurley wanted the taxpayer to pay off his student loans in small amounts over time, but when the taxpayer declined, Hurley said he wanted cash,” the watchdog said. “Hurley and the taxpayer scheduled a time to meet several days later. Hurley told the taxpayer not to tell anyone, not even his business partner.”
Hurley took a $5,000 payment, and then a $15,000 payment from the business owner. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, plus three years of probation.
Identity theft
Creshika Wise pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft back in May.
Wise was an IRS revenue agent in Atlanta, and developed a scheme to ensure that all or part of a $758,846 payment due to the IRS would go to herself.
She created a fake IRS form to pull off the scam.
“Wise created a fictitious IRS Form 4549, Income Tax Examination Changes, for the taxpayers and placed the fictitious form in the IRS’ files,” TIGTA said. “The fictitious Form 4549 showed a balance due of only $282,363 rather than the $758,846 already agreed upon.”
The rest she tried to take by setting up a fake checking account and asking the taxpayer to send the money to that account. She will get a minimum of two years in prison, and will be sentenced in August.
Defrauding the feds
Kimberley Brown-English was found guilty of six counts of preparing and filing false tax returns.
She was an IRS worker based in California, and in 2011 and 2012, she filed income tax returns “in which she falsely claimed two dependents, a parent and a nephew.”
“Neither of the individuals claimed as dependents had a familial relationship with Brown-English,” TIGTA said.
She also filed returns for other people claiming false dependents, and in one case claimed five fake dependents on one return.
Brown-English will be sentenced in August.
At the same time, TIGTA announced other actions against non-employees, including those who have threatened IRS employees.
In one case, a Ft. Lauderdale man has been arrested after threatening an IRS worker with a shotgun. The IRS worker visited the home of Bruce Hacker in May on IRS business, and was threatened.
“Hacker said, ‘I’ll take care of this,’ and retrieved his shotgun,” TIGTA said. “A short time later, Hacker opened the door, pointed the loaded shotgun at the revenue officer, shouted expletives at him and told him to get off of his property, which the employee did.”
Hacker surrendered to the U.S. Marshals, and “additional legal actions are anticipated.”
