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IRS Employee Stole Data To Forge $8M In Fraudulent Returns
coondoggie writes "A former Internal Revenue Service employee this week got 105 months in prison for pleading guilty to theft of government property and aggravated identity theft in a case where the guy tried to get away with nearly $8 million in fraudulent tax returns. The U.S. Department of Justice said Thomas Richardson used his inside knowledge of IRS operations to commit his crime, which was pretty audacious. According to the DOJ, Richardson admitted that within a two-day period, April 15 to April 17, 2006, he filed or caused to be filed 29 fraudulent 2005 individual income tax returns totaling $7,922,657."
So I wonder what aspect of "insider knowledge" he used? Logins and passwords? back doors? social engineering? test accounts? phone numbers to helpful clerks that don't think about what they're being asked to do? secret URLs?
Is there a back door that anyone with similar "insider knowledge" can use, that's not a hole that's closable with say a simple password change? (has the hole been closed?)
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
The best criminals are smart enough to make it look like a crime never occurred, and there are probably a fair number of these (not an extraordinary number, there are lucrative "honest" lines of work for smart people). This guy probably though he could pull that off.
The article isn't too explicit on the details, but it sounds like he used his position and expertise to identify 29 people who were [dumber: weren't] eligible but didn't file [dumber: yet] for substantial tax returns. Then, he used the data he had (e.g. name, social security number, finances, etc.) to file those returns, with the refunds going to accounts under his control. (Smart: setup accounts in the proper recipient's name and state, Dumb: setup the accounts in his own state/name.)
This was an all-or-nothing crime. Either it's never discovered or he's caught. Who knows if he's the first to have tried? And, for those wanting his head, it wasn't a horrible crime. It's stealing, since it's not his money, but the victim is hard to identify (the people not claiming refunds? the government for relying on ignorance/apathy to not refund extra taxes inadvertently paid?). The stiff punishment is likely related to how close he was to getting away with it and how much he almost got (i.e. to make the risk greater than the reward).
After watching Top Gear I'd settle on Vietnam. Looks beautiful and friendly and has no diplomatic or extradition treaties.
Everywhere looks "beautiful and friendly" when you've got a massive production team running around making sure everything goes smoothly (and an editing team for when things don't).
You know, there is never just one cockroach...
tired of progressive taxes and really would prefer taxes to be regressive
Nice straw man there. No, not regressive. Flat. Telling half the people in the country that they don't need to pay income taxes is no way run a civil society. Not if they still get to vote, anyway.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Everywhere is beautiful and friendly when you're very rich.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is usually crucified.