Buffalo Woman Sentenced for Falsifying Passport Application and Tax Evasion

BUFFALO, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Diane Abram, 61, of Buffalo, N.Y., who was convicted of making false statements in a passport application and tax evasion, was sentenced to two years supervised release with five months of home confinement by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William M. Skretny.

Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryEllen Kresse, who handled the case, stated that in January, 2013, the defendant applied for a U.S. Passport, in the name Diane Ballard, at the U.S. Passport Office in Buffalo. On the application, the defendant failed to disclose that she had previously utilized the name Diane Abram, and had previously obtained passports in the name Diane Abram. The passport office detected the fraud and Abram admitted that she lied on the application and intentionally attempted to obtain passports in two separate names and social security numbers to avoid collection of outstanding taxes in the amount of $25,000.

The plea is the culmination of a joint investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge Toni Weirauch, and Agents of the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Roy Stillman.