COVINGTON KY July 29 2013 — An Internal Revenue Service employee working in Northern Kentucky has been charged with multiple crimes for allegedly stealing taxpayers’ personal information and trying to obtain their Social Security payments.
Joy Fox, 32, of Independence is charged with eight counts of intentionally exceeding her authorized access to an IRS computer to get the information, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
She is also charged with three counts of mail fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, Fox and co-defendant Patrick Sharpe, 23, of Tallahassee allegedly used the personal information to get prepaid debit cards in taxpayers’ names. Once the cards were approved, Fox and Sharpe had the cards mailed to addresses in Kentucky. The pair then attempted to get taxpayers’ Social Security benefits deposited to the debit card accounts.
Fox and Sharpe are also charged with conspiracy to file a false claim for a tax refund.
Fox appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty. Sharpe is set to appear on August 14. Their trial is scheduled for Sept. 23 at the federal courthouse in Covington.
The mail fraud charges alone carry a maximum of 20 years imprisonment. The defendants could also be fined a maximum of $250,000.
The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Tallahassee, the Leon County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General Tax Administration in Covington.
Fox couldn’t be reached Thursday afternoon for comment. According to federal court records in Cincinnati, Fox filed for bankruptcy in October 2007 after two civil judgment against her totaling nearly $2,000.
Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati is a major hub for the IRS. The area is home to about 5,500 IRS workers, or more than 5 percent of the agency’s total workforce of about 90,000. Fox was a financial technician in Boone County where 680 IRS employees work in such areas as record storage, human resources and information technologies.
Another Northern Kentucky IRS worker was found guilty of illegally looking up taxpayer information. John Snyder was sentenced in August 2008 to three years probation after he admitted to snooping into athletes’ and celebrities’ tax records, including Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis. Snyder was a tax examiner in the IRS Service Center in Covington for 17 years.
Joy Fox, 32, of Independence is charged with eight counts of intentionally exceeding her authorized access to an IRS computer to get the information, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
She is also charged with three counts of mail fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, Fox and co-defendant Patrick Sharpe, 23, of Tallahassee allegedly used the personal information to get prepaid debit cards in taxpayers’ names. Once the cards were approved, Fox and Sharpe had the cards mailed to addresses in Kentucky. The pair then attempted to get taxpayers’ Social Security benefits deposited to the debit card accounts.
Fox and Sharpe are also charged with conspiracy to file a false claim for a tax refund.
Fox appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty. Sharpe is set to appear on August 14. Their trial is scheduled for Sept. 23 at the federal courthouse in Covington.
The mail fraud charges alone carry a maximum of 20 years imprisonment. The defendants could also be fined a maximum of $250,000.
The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Tallahassee, the Leon County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General Tax Administration in Covington.
Fox couldn’t be reached Thursday afternoon for comment. According to federal court records in Cincinnati, Fox filed for bankruptcy in October 2007 after two civil judgment against her totaling nearly $2,000.
Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati is a major hub for the IRS. The area is home to about 5,500 IRS workers, or more than 5 percent of the agency’s total workforce of about 90,000. Fox was a financial technician in Boone County where 680 IRS employees work in such areas as record storage, human resources and information technologies.
Another Northern Kentucky IRS worker was found guilty of illegally looking up taxpayer information. John Snyder was sentenced in August 2008 to three years probation after he admitted to snooping into athletes’ and celebrities’ tax records, including Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis. Snyder was a tax examiner in the IRS Service Center in Covington for 17 years.