SAN FRANCISCO – Crystal Ann Poole pleaded guilty on Sept. 7, 2012, to tax evasion, bank fraud, and social security fraud, United States Attorney Melinda Haag, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division Kathryn Keneally, and IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Marcus Williams announced.

According to the plea agreement, Poole evaded taxes on income that she earned from 1994 through the present. The unpaid taxes included $227,750 for tax years 1998 through 2004. During her career as a nurse, Poole failed to file returns with the IRS, failed to pay her taxes, used the social security number of another individual to hide income and assets and filed false documents with her employers to stop them from withholding taxes from her wages.

According to the plea agreement, Poole also committed bank fraud in 2006, when she applied for a loan of $335,000 from the Community Bank of Mississippi to buy a home in Florence, Miss. In her loan application, Poole misrepresented her financial circumstances by omitting debts and supplying a false social security number to conceal a then-pending bankruptcy and at least $150,000 in outstanding debts under her true social security number. Poole also submitted a falsified Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, that purported to be from her employer. This fraudulent document overstated her income and again listed a false social security number. Based on her fraudulent loan application, the bank approved the loan. Poole ultimately stopped making payments on the loan, resulting in foreclosure and a loss to the bank of $43,822.90.

According to the plea agreement, Poole committed Social Security Fraud when she used the Social Security number of an Alabama schoolteacher to obtain a $30,158.63 loan to purchase a Lexus in 2007. Poole purchased the schoolteacher’s social security number before 2003, when she was living in Georgia. Since then, Poole has used the schoolteacher’s social security number to open and maintain bank accounts, hold property and purchase assets. In using the schoolteacher’s social security number, Poole intended to conceal the nature, extent and location of her assets from the IRS.

Poole, 51, of Richmond, Calif., was charged in a 14-count superseding indictment on June 7, 2012. The charges included tax evasion, bank fraud, social security fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The maximum penalty for income tax evasion, in violation of Title 26, United States Code 7201, is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code 1344, is 30 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000. The maximum penalty for social security fraud, in violation of Title 42, United States Code 408, is 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Poole is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 14, 2012.

Brian Bailey and Katherine Wong, Trial Attorneys with the United States Department of Justice, are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kathy Tat. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by IRS, CI.

 

 

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