On April 26, 2018, in the Southern District of Florida, Amy Ahrens was indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with a nationwide scheme involving the impersonation of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration special agents subsequently arrested Ahrens for the offenses on April 27, 2018.

The scheme to defraud in this matter involves individuals misrepresenting themselves as employees of the IRS during unsolicited telephone calls to intended victims. During the calls, the impersonator tells the victim that he/she has an outstanding debt to the IRS, and that failure to pay will result in arrest.

According to the indictment, on November 2, 2017, Ahrens opened a bank account at Wells Fargo Bank and subsequently utilized that account, along with a previously established Bank of America account, to receive a total of approximately $47,366 in fraudulently obtained funds from numerous victims across the United States. Ahrens' coconspirators ordered the victims in this scheme to transfer the funds into the accounts controlled by Ahrens to satisfy their alleged debts to the IRS. One victim reported that, in addition to threatening him with arrest, the coconspirators also threatened to seize all of his assets.

A jury trial is scheduled in this matter for June 4, 2018. If convicted, Ahrens could face a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years' imprisonment followed by three years' supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: S.D. Fla. Indict. filed Apr. 26, 2018; and S.D. Fla. Crim. Docket as of May 16, 2018.