Bay Area Woman Indicted in San Francisco

for Tax Evasion and Bank Fraud

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has returned an indictment charging Crystal Ann Poole with evading income taxes for over eight years and for defrauding a federally insured bank in Mississippi, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

The indictment alleges that Poole had failed to file income tax returns and failed to pay income taxes since 1998, despite earning, in later years, as much as $200,000 each year.  She allegedly evaded collection of her taxes by using a false Social Security number and by keeping her employers from withholding income taxes from her wages.

The indictment further alleges that, in January 2006, Poole defrauded the Community Bank of Mississippi in order to borrow $335,000 to buy a home in Florence, Miss.  In order to get the loan, she allegedly provided the bank with a false Social Security number that masked several disqualifying financial circumstances to include a recently filed bankruptcy, one pending lawsuit, and numerous unpaid debts.

An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted, Poole faces a maximum potential sentence of 51 years in prison and a maximum fine of over $2 million.

Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department’s Tax Division thanked special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation, who provided valuable assistance in conducting the investigation; Tax Division Trial Attorneys Brian Bailey and Katherine Wong, who prosecuted the case; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Moore for his assistance with the prosecution.