Bay Area Nurse Sentenced To 27 Months In Prison For Misuse Of A Social Security Number, Bank Fraud And Tax Evasion

SAN FRANCISCO – Crystal Ann Poole was sentenced to 27 months in prison today for 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 Special Agent in Charge Jose M. Martinez announced. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered Poole to serve three years supervised release following her prison term and to pay $476,444.08 in restitution -- $400,197 to the IRS for the tax loss, $43,822.90 to the Community Bank of Mississippi for the loss associated with the bank fraud, and $32,424.18 to Wells Fargo for the loss associated with Poole’s misuse of a Social Security number.

Poole pled guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud and Social Security fraud on Sept. 10, 2012. According to court documents, Poole evaded taxes on more than $1.27 million in income that she earned from 1994 through the present as a registered nurse. 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 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, in 2007 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. Poole ultimately stopped making payments on the car loan, resulting in a loss to Wells Fargo of $32,424.18. 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.

Brian Bailey and Katherine Wong, Trial Attorneys with the United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, prosecuted the case. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.

(Poole Indictment )