United States Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña
Northern District of Texas

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

FORMER IRS EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO NEARLY NINE YEARS
IN FEDERAL PRISON ON THEFT OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY AND
AGGRAVATED IDENTITY THEFT CONVICTIONS

DALLAS — Thomas W. Richardson was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 105 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $30,649 in restitution, following his guilty plea in August 2011 to one count of theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas and John A. DiCicco, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. Judge Boyle ordered that he surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on March 6, 2012. According to an order filed that set conditions for his release, Richardson, is a resident of Mansfield, Texas.

In handing down the sentence this afternoon, Judge Boyle commented that Richardson was a former IRS employee who used his inside knowledge of IRS operations to commit his crime.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, Richardson admitted that within a two-day period, April 15, 2006 to April 17, 2006, he filed or caused to be filed 29 fraudulent 2005 IRS Forms 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns. Each federal income tax return claimed a refund of between $215,801 and $473,832. Richardson admitted that the refunds claimed by all 29 tax returns totaled $7,922,657. He further admitted that each tax return was filed claiming the married filing jointly election and listed two taxpayers, husband and wife. In each case the Social Security Number reported on the tax returns were assigned to individuals and in most cases, the names on the tax returns matched the names of the individuals to whom the Social Security Numbers were assigned. Richardson admitted that the tax returns were prepared without the authorization of the 58 taxpayers listed on the tax returns. All of the returns directed that the IRS pay the money to one of Richardson’s bank accounts. According to the factual resume filed in the case, the IRS paid out seven refunds totaling $1,865,401 between May 12, 2006 and May 19, 2006. All but $30,649 was recouped by the IRS.

The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation. Tax Division Trial Attorneys Robert A. Kemins and Jed Silversmith, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Revesz, prosecuted the case.

More information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts can be found at http://www.justice.gov/tax/

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