Tammy Dickinson, 10 IRS Employees Unemployment Benefits Fraud, Missouri 2013

In a shocking case of government corruption, 10 former employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have been indicted for receiving over $112,000 in unemployment benefits while they worked at the agency.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that Michelle Glavin, 32, Christopher Bair, 50, Tiffani Harding, 26, Christopher Castillo, 33, Brenda Jones, 49, Jesse Love, 60, Priscillia Smith, 46, Leisa Hunsel, 38, Shalonda Bradley, 40, and Berneta Weedin, 59, all of whom were employed by the IRS, have been charged in a 20-count indictment.

The indictment alleges that each of the 10 defendants claimed unemployment benefits while they were employed by the IRS, with the amount of state and federal benefits fraudulently received by each defendant ranging from $21,348 to $6,127. The total amount of fraudulent benefits totaled $112,609.

Each of the 10 defendants is charged with one count of theft of government property and one count of bank fraud. The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require each defendant to forfeit to the government a money judgment for the amount of benefits received.

‘The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence,’ cautioned Dickinson.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Pansing Brown. It was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Division of Employment Security.

The defendants are no longer employed at the IRS, but their actions have raised serious concerns about the integrity of government programs.

The indictment was returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. The indictment was unsealed and made public upon the arrests and initial court appearances of several defendants.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/former-irs-employees-indicted-unemployment-benefits-fraud