Former IRS Employee from Texas Sentenced to Nearly Nine Years in Prison on Theft of Government Property and Aggravated Identity Theft Convictions

Thomas W. Richardson was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle in Dallas to 105 months in prison and ordered to pay $30,649 in restitution, following his guilty plea in August 2011 to one count of theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft, the Justice Department announced today. Judge Boyle ordered that Richardson surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on March 6, 2012. According to an order filed that set conditions for his release, Richardson is a resident of Mansfield, Tex.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Boyle commented that Richardson was a former IRS employee who used his inside knowledge of IRS operations to commit his crime.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, Richardson admitted that within a two-day period, April 15, 2006 to April 17, 2006, he filed or caused to be filed 29 fraudulent 2005 individual income tax returns.  Each federal income tax return claimed a refund of between $215,801 and $473,832.  Richardson admitted that the refunds claimed by all 29 tax returns totaled $7,922,657.  

He further admitted that each tax return was filed claiming the married filing jointly election and listed two taxpayers, husband and wife.  In each case, the Social Security number reported on the tax returns was assigned to individuals and in most cases, the names on the tax returns matched the names of the individuals to whom the Social Security numbers were assigned.  Richardson admitted that the tax returns were prepared without the authorization of the 58 taxpayers listed on the tax returns.  All of the returns directed that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) pay the money to one of Richardson’s bank accounts.  According to the factual resume filed in the case, the IRS paid out seven refunds totaling $1,865,401 between May 12, 2006 and May 19, 2006.  All but $30,649 was recouped by the IRS.

The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorneys Robert A. Kemins and Jed Silversmith of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Revesz, prosecuted the case.

More information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts can be found at http://www.justice.gov/tax/