Wynantskill Woman Sentenced for Misusing Names of Government Agencies

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Kristina Gross, age 37, of Wynantskill, New York, was sentenced today to pay a $5,000 fine for misusing the names of the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a misdemeanor offense.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and William A. Kalb, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeastern Field Division of the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

As part of her guilty plea on January 18, 2018, Gross admitted that she worked for a construction services company in Rensselaer County, whose Kinderhook Bank account had been levied by the IRS on February 14, 2017.  On February 23, 2017, Gross twice emailed Kinderhook Bank what she claimed was an IRS release of levy form, in an unsuccessful attempt to induce the bank to provide her company with access to funds that the bank had frozen as a result of receiving the IRS levy. 

Gross admitted that the document she sent to Kinderhook Bank on February 23 was forged, inaccurate and not approved or authorized by the Department of the Treasury or the IRS.  She also admitted to knowing that the document would create the false impression at Kinderhook Bank that the IRS had actually issued the document when, in fact, the IRS had not.

This case was investigated by TIGTA and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.