Buffalo Woman Pleads Guilty to Theft of Government Funds

   BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Candace Walker, 33, of Buffalo, N.Y., pleaded guilty to theft of government funds before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott. The charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a fine of $100,000 or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell T. Ippolito, Jr., who is handling the case, stated that Walker, a Contact Representative for the United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), collected unemployment insurance benefits for which she was not entitled. Between January 10, 2010, and October 2, 2011, the defendant fraudulently certified for unemployment insurance benefits on numerous occasions. Walker failed to report income earned from the IRS and from the Wheelchair Home, Inc., dba, Schofield Residence, in order to receive unemployment insurance benefits. In total, Manning stole $9,530 in unemployment insurance benefits from the IRS and $1,925 from the Wheelchair Home, Inc., dba, Schofield Residence.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation by the Department of the Treasury, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Office of Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert E. O’Malley, the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Cheryl Garcia of the New York Regional Office, and the New York State Department of Labor, under the direction of Commissioner Peter Rivera.