IRS employee caught in Harriet Walters’ scam crew

With tens of millions of dollars skimmed out of tax receipt coffers, an IRS employee was scooped up iin the net according to the Washington Examiner;

An IRS manager and his estranged wife were charged with receiving $2.8 million as part of the growing D.C. property tax scheme in which tens of millions of dollars were embezzled from the District’s coffers.

The arrests broaden the scope of the federal investigation, revealing new avenues that authorities say the thieves used to cash and hide illegally gotten six-figure government checks.

Robert O. Steven, 54, and Patricia A. Steven, 72, appeared separately in federal court in Greenbelt Thursday afternoon.

They are accused of cashing at least 11 checks totaling $2.8 million. The checks were issued to sham companies with variations of the name “Bellarmine.”

It’s not like there were any hints he was doing something illegal, or anything;

Robert Steven, of Edgewater, Md., is a 32-year Internal Revenue Service employee and division director at the national tax office in New Carrollton, where he earned $143,471 a year.

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In the last four years, he purchased four Jaguar cars totaling $257,866, authorities said. His most recent purchase was a 2007 convertible model priced at almost $97,000. 

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Last year, Walters and Patricia Steven purchased a New Jersey residence together. Steven then transferred her part of the home to her daughter Stephanie, according to court documents. Walters and Stephanie Steven then purchased another New Jersey home for $885,000.

It’s surprising to me that the two levels of governments ignored the spending habits of government employees entrusted with the People’s money. Spending habits that exceeded millions of dollars of luxury purchases.

So far, ten people have been indicted in this huge scam – and the silence from much of the media is deafening.

Every time I type Harriet Walter’s name, it’s worth a flurry of hits from “Google”. But a check of internet news sources turns up little on this whole story. I’m not sure what’s the problem with the media’s interest in this story but I’m pretty the scope of this crime warrants a lot more attention.

Category: Society