An IRS employee is facing a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 after getting caught relaying taxpayers’ personal banking information to a criminal colluder.
Michael Anthony Jones, a contact representative for the IRS, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit identity theft and unauthorized disclosure of information.
Jones knowingly and willfully used his access credentials to IRS databases to obtain taxpayer information without official clearance, according to a press release published by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The press release is somewhat benignly titled, “IRS Employee Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy Involving Unauthorized Disclosure of IRS Records.”
Jones obtained the information on the front and back of taxpayers’ cancelled checks that were made out to the Department of the Treasury. He relayed this information, along with “printouts and Social Security Numbers,” to a co-conspirator classified as “TFB.” Jones would be awarded a portion of the stolen proceeds from TFB for his illicit services.
This is not the first time an IRS worker operated an identity theft tax scam. Nakeisha Hall was sentenced to more than nine years in prison earlier this month after committing more than $1 million worth of bank and mail fraud. (RELATED: Facial Recognition Technology Helps NY Law Enforcement Catch 100 Identity Thieves)
Sentencing for Jones is scheduled for Nov. 21, 2016.
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