On June 15, 2018, in the Eastern District of California, a jury found former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Special Agent Alena Aleykina guilty of filing false tax returns, theft of Government funds, and obstruction of justice. Aleykina was charged with the offenses in October 2016.
According to the court documents, Aleykina, a resident of Sacramento, California, was employed as an IRS-Criminal Investigation (CI) special agent from approximately 2006 to 2014. Aleykina also was a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California and held a master's degree in business administration.
Between 2010 and 2012, Aleykina prepared six false tax returns. Three of the returns were Aleykina's own individual income tax returns, and three were tax returns for trusts that she established. All were signed under the penalties of perjury and all contained false statements.
On Aleykina's individual tax returns, she falsely claimed head of household filing status. She claimed three dependents, tuition and fees deductions, and losses of up to $25,000 for trusts that she had established. She knew all of these claims were false and was aware she was not entitled to make these claims. Aleykina also stole public money and converted it to her own use by causing the IRS to issue IRS Tuition Assistance Reimbursement payments to her, knowing that she was not eligible for such money. In addition, the three trust tax returns prepared by Aleykina contained false statements, including, but not limited to, the amounts of rents received, deductions of negative income distributions, and claims of negative net income, which were declared as losses on two of her corresponding individual tax returns. The total loss to the Government is more than $60,000.
Additionally, Aleykina knowingly destroyed, altered, concealed, or falsified at least one record that was stored on a Government-issued computer and Government servers with the intent to obstruct the investigation. Specifically, when criminal investigators approached Aleykina to retrieve her Government laptop, she lied to them about its location and then began deleting files from it after the agents left.
Aleykina's sentencing is scheduled for September 25, 2018. She could face a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment for the destruction of records in a Federal investigation.
Source: The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: E.D. Cal. Superseding Indict. filed Oct. 20, 2016; E.D. Cal. Verdict Form filed June 15, 2018; E.D. Cal. Crim. Docket as of June 29, 2018; Department of Justice, Northern District of California, Press Release issued June 18, 2018.