On January 31, 2019, in the Central District of California, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) supervisor Leslie Williams pled guilty to two counts of theft of Government property. Williams was initially indicted for the offenses and arrested by special agents of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) in March 2018.

According to the court documents, at all times relevant to the charges, Williams was employed by the IRS as a supervisory individual tax advisory specialist in the Long Beach, California office. Beginning on or about February 12, 2016, Williams knowingly and willfully embezzled, stole, and converted for her own use Federal funds as the purported surviving spouse of her ex-husband, who had died on about January 22, 2016, and from whom she had been divorced since about November 15, 2013. Specifically, Williams claimed that, as the alleged surviving spouse, she was entitled to receive death benefit payments issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as well as retirement plan contributions issued by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB). In total, Williams stole $34,204.50 from OPM and $36,861 from FRTIB.

Additionally, on February 14, 2017, when interviewed by TIGTA special agents, Williams allegedly made a materially false statement by continuing to claim that she was married to her ex-spouse until his death, when, in fact, Williams knew she had been divorced since about November 15, 2013.

Williams could face a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. Sentencing in this matter is scheduled for June 3, 2019.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: C.D. Cal. Indict. filed Mar. 21, 2018; C.D. Cal. Executed Arrest Warrant filed. Mar. 22, 2018; C.D. Cal. Plea Agr. filed Jan. 31, 2019; C.D. Cal. Crim. Docket as of Feb. 5, 2019.