IRS Employee Indicted on Tax Charges
Memphis, TN - Farrah Jones, of Memphis, has been indicted by a federal grand jury announced Lawrence J. Laurenzi, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Jones was charged with two counts of filing false tax returns and 20 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The indictment was filed on March 10, 2010, and Jones was arrested today, March 11, 2010.
She had her initial appearance in court and has been released on a $5000 unsecured bond and is scheduled for arraignment March 17, 2010.
According to the indictment, Jones was hired as a tax examining technician with the IRS in January 2001. Jones allegedly exceeded her authority by stealing data from an IRS databank, specifically numerous taxpayers’ dependant and personal information, and used this information to input on various tax returns prepared by Jones for herself and other taxpayers.
From February 2, 2006 February 8, 2007, Jones allegedly obtained dependant information from the IRS database and placed this dependant information on tax returns she prepared, knowing that the taxpayers were not entitled to claim these dependants.
Jones faces a maximum penalty of 66 years in prison and a fine of $5.5 million if convicted on all counts.
This investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Coleman will represent the government.
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Note: An indictment is a form of accusation and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
