IRS Revenue Officer Admits Filing False Documents With Federal Student Loan Program

TRENTON, N.J. – A revenue officer with the IRS admitted today that she made false statements and submitted false documents to a federal program to defer repayment on a student loan, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Chandra T. Porter, 53, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti in Trenton federal court to an information charging her with one count of making false statements and representations.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In June 2008 Porter applied for a Direct Plus Loan under the Federal Family Education Loan Program so that her relative could attend a college program. Between July 2008 and June 2010, the U.S. Department of Education disbursed $49,179 to the college program on behalf of Porter’s relative. After the relative completed the college program, the loan became due in December 2010, and Porter was required to make monthly payments towards the loan. However, beginning in April 2012, Porter began submitting Unemployment Deferment Request applications to defer the loan payments, falsely representing that she was unemployed and was unable to find suitable employment. Porter was, in fact, a full-time employee of the IRS as a revenue officer. Several of the deferment applications she submitted were faxed to the loan handlers from the IRS office where Porter worked.

The count of making false statements carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 30, 2018.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Assistant Special Agent in Charge Debbi Mayer of the Eastern Regional Office, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Rodney A. Davis, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacques S. Pierre of the Special Prosecutions Division.

Defense counsel: David A. Schwartz Esq., East Brunswick, New Jersey