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March 22, 2022

Former Internal Revenue Service Employee Sentenced for Attempted Wire Fraud and Making False Statements

On January 18, 2022, in the District of New Hampshire, former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee Jane Smith was sentenced for attempted wire fraud and making false statements. Smith pled guilty on October 7, 2021.

According to the court documents, around September 1993, Smith began receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The SSA informed Smith that she was required to report any changes in her employment and income. Around January 2007 through March 2018, Smith worked for several employers, to include the IRS and two private companies. She concealed her employment from the SSA knowing her earnings would have reduced her SSDI benefits or made her ineligible to receive SSDI benefits.

Between April 2011 and July 2017, the SSA learned of Smith’s employment and suspended her benefits several times. Each time, Smith took steps to cause the SSA to resume wiring her SSDI benefit payments that she was not entitled to receive. For example, in 2017, when SSA learned of Smith’s employment and suspended her benefits, she fabricated an identity theft claim to conceal her employment history. In February 2018, Smith filed a false police report with the New Hampshire Nashua Police Department claiming she was the victim of identity theft and that someone else used her name to work for her employers. She also made similar false statements to the IRS and SSA.

In February 2021, Smith admitted to law enforcement that she lied about her work and falsely claimed to be the victim of identity theft because she did not want to lose her SSDI benefits. As a result of Smith’s false claims, SSA wired SSDI benefit payments from the U.S. Treasury in Kansas City, Missouri, to Smith’s credit union account in Methuen, Massachusetts. Smith obtained over $90,000 in fraudulent benefits.

Smith received three years’ probation and she must complete 50 hours of community service within 12 months. She was ordered to pay $76,680.10 in restitution and a $200 assessment fee.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: D.N.H., Indict., filed April 12, 2021; DOJ Press Release published April 12, 2021; Criminal Docket case number 1:21-cr-00060-LM-1 cited October 7, 2021; DOJ Press Release published October 8, 2021; and D.N.H., J., filed January 19, 2022.