A brazen scheme to steal tax refunds has landed a former IRS employee in the slammer. Tamara R. Miller, 40, of Kansas City, Missouri, was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison without parole.
Miller, a data transcriber at the Kansas City Service Center, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of government funds on January 23, 2020. She specifically admitted to stealing refunds from two taxpayers, totaling $5,214.
According to court documents, Miller would select tax returns where the ‘Refund’ section did not show a routing number or account number for a direct deposit to a financial institution. She would then use taxpayers’ means of identification to apply for accounts at online banks that issued prepaid debit cards.
Once Miller had gained access to the online accounts, she would enter the routing number and account number for the fraudulently created account in the ‘Refund’ section of the taxpayer’s Form 1040. Miller had access to the fraudulently created account, while the taxpayer remained unaware of the account’s existence.
As an alternative means of committing the crime, Miller would enter the routing and account numbers for an existing online account to which she had access in the ‘Refund’ section of the Forms 1040. This allowed her to falsely represent that the taxpayer elected to have the refund amount deposited directly to that account.
The refund amounts were subsequently deposited directly to accounts controlled by Miller and accessible to her. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Larson and investigated by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Miller’s sentencing is a victory for taxpayers who trusted the IRS to handle their finances. It serves as a reminder that even the most trusted institutions can be vulnerable to internal corruption.
Related Federal Cases
- Michael Jett Sentenced to 23 Months for Tax Evasion, MO, 2023 · Alabama
- Kalena Winston Pleads Guilty to $70K Tax Fraud Scheme · Texas
- Ridgedale Exec Sentenced for $500k Tax Thefts · Illinois
- Semere Tsehaye Convicted of Tax Evasion on $1.5M Hidden Income · Washington
- Gee, Justice Sentenced in $93K Tax Refund Scam · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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