Posted on 04/16/2009 3:49:56 AM PDT by Scanian
Think your income tax check is safe when you send it off to the IRS? Think again. An ABC News investigation has uncovered case after case of checks being stolen, manipulated and cashed by contract employees responsible for processing them, resulting in delayed payments and heavily disrupted lives.
"It was beyond my wildest imagination that this theft would be an inside scam," Brad Miller of Garland, TX told ABC News.
Last year, Miller sent a cashier's check for more than $20,000 to the IRS, where it ended up in the hands of a Bank of America employee in Dallas who embezzled $485,539.76 in taxpayer remittance checks.
Miller said the theft left him out of a $400 fee he had to pay to stop payment on the check, not to mention the violation he felt knowing someone had accessed his money and personal information.
"I never before gave it a second thought that my check made out to the IRS would end up in the wrong hands," Miller said.
As it turned out, the Bank of America employee, Emmanuel Ekwuruke, had stolen nearly half a million dollars in taxpayers checks, many of which he manipulated from "IRS" to "MRS" by making the 'I' into an 'M.' He then added a "MR" and his wife's first and last name, before attempting to cash the checks. Just last week, Ekwuruke, a native of Nigeria in the U.S. as a permanent resident, was found guilty of theft, embezzlement, misapplication by a bank employee, as well as theft of public money and aggravated identity theft and sentenced to 66 months in prison.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Little Geitners. Bet they don’t pay their own taxes, either.
I had to send them some money this year. The instructions were to make the check out to the “Department of the Treasury.”
Oh Boy, another Nigerian scam only on American soil.!
LOL!!
Well, the good news is that the IRS has processes in place to detect and investigate internal frauds, and that these processes seem to work.
This is therefore a Good News story.
A) You don’t send the Treasury a Cashiers check...
B) You don’t write the check to the IRS. It is to the “United States Treasury”.
United States Treasury.
Grrrrrrr. You’re right. I went and looked and that is how I made it out. :)
Do you send a cashiers check made out to the United States Treasury?
I know I sure wish I could edit my posts later...
I’ve never done it.
I’ve never been asked to do it.
And I’ve sent six digit checks.
where it ended up in the hands of a Bank of America employee in Dallas who embezzled $485,539.76 in taxpayer remittance checks,guess someone found out how congress works.
“Just last week, Ekwuruke, a native of Nigeria in the U.S. as a permanent resident, was found guilty of theft, embezzlement, misapplication by a bank employee, as well as theft of public money and aggravated identity theft and sentenced to 66 months in prison.”
Man, those Nigerians have that money con job deal down pat!
I’m not trying to be a pest. I have sent cashiers checks instead of regular checks. And last year, I didn’t read the instructions and I made the check out to the IRS. Now I’m wondering if they have me listed as a troublemaker! :)
Don’t worry, you’re not being a “pest”.
Why did you send a cashiers check? Did someone tell you to?
A personal check is all that is normally required. Its free and there’s a proper paper trail if something goes wrong.
They must have banking trade schools in Nigeria...
Hmmm.
Is anyone surprised that crooks (and total dumba$$es) work for the IRS?
Has any freeper ever called the IRS with a tax question?
Do it sometime (just for entertainment). It is an exercise in FUTILITY!
WHY use a cashiers check instead of a personal check?
WHY do folks put payable to “IRS” instead of “United States Treasury?” I make quarterly tax payments and the instructions are very clear on who to make the check payable to.
Fill up the info lines on the check so that extra words or numbers cannot be added.
Well, now that you know the caliber of folks working there, I hope you will stop the practice of giving them access to your bank account!
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