Michael J. Moore, Tax Fraud Conspiracy, Missouri 2014

Kansas City Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Conspiracy

A Kansas City, Mo., man has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to steal taxpayers' identity information in order to receive fraudulent tax refunds.

Michael J. Moore, 27, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to the charge contained in a March 18, 2014, federal indictment.

Moore's girlfriend and co-defendant, Taylor S. Knight, 32, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty on July 25, 2014, to leading the fraud conspiracy. Knight worked as an employee of the Internal Revenue Service at the office at 333 W. Pershing Rd., Kansas City. Knight admitted that she abused her position of trust when she inappropriately accessed the information of three taxpayers as part of a conspiracy to defraud the United States by using the stolen identity information to fraudulently induce the IRS into issuing tax refund payments.

On Sept. 30, 2011, Knight used the information from two of the victim taxpayers (who were married) to submit a bogus online application for three prepaid debit cards. These debit cards were issued and mailed to the residence of Moore's grandmother. Moore monitored the mail sent to his grandmother's address and retrieved the three prepaid debit cards. They agreed to use the grandmother's address rather than use an address associated with Knight in an effort to conceal her role in this conspiracy to defraud the United States.

On Oct. 17, 2011, Knight submitted a 2010 tax return for the same two married victim taxpayers. The IRS approved a $46,572 refund, of which $5,000 was deposited on a debit card that had been obtained by Knight; this amount was spent by Moore and Knight. The IRS attempted to deposit the remaining $41,572 refund on the other debit cards obtained by Knight, but the receiving banks rejected the deposits.

Moore telephoned the IRS and falsely claimed to be the victim taxpayer. He provided the IRS representative with pertinent personal identification information for both victims and requested the IRS to send the remaining tax refund to a new address located in Independence, Mo. He identified this address because it was his former residence and he knew it was unoccupied.

Under federal statutes, Moore and Knight are each subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/kc-man-pleads-guilty-tax-fraud-conspiracy