Results tagged “robertsteven”

Two more sentences have been handed down in the epic story of the Office of Tax and Revenue embezzlement case. The Post reports that Patricia Steven, 73, has been sentenced to five years and two months in prison for her role in the scam, while her estranged husband, Robert, 55, got three years and 10 months. Patricia Steven was a friend of Harriette Walters, and became involved in the embezzlement ring as early as 1990. Robert Steven appears to have received a lighter sentence due to his cooperation with prosecutors and claim that he was misled by his wife about where the money was coming from. The Stevens helped steal about $8 million of the roughly $50 million believed to have been taken in the Walters scam.

As expected, former IRS employee Robert Steven, 55, pleaded guilty in federal court today for his involvement in the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue scandal. Steven remains free until he is sentenced on Oct. 8. The Post has a bit more information about the role Steven and his estranged wife Patricia played in the enormous embezzlement scheme.

A bank account set up by the couple in the name of a clothing design firm took in $9.2 million in embezzled funds from 1990 to 2007, according to prosecutors. Of that, $1.7 million was transferred into a Wachovia account used primarily by Robert Steven, according to court documents. With that money, Steven bought four cars, all Jaguars, as well as a home in Edgewater and numerous vacations to the Bahamas, prosecutors said.

That $9.2 million is a pretty significant amount, though not as much as the $18 million former Bank of America employee Walter Jones helped to embezzle. Not to suggest that there's any silver lining to be found for the D.C. government in this case, but it is worth pointing out that two of key players in the scheme, people with access and expertise crucial to hiding over $50 million over the course of two decades, were not themselves employees of the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue. Steven and his wife are described as longtime friends of accused mastermind Harriette Walters.

The Post says that Robert Steven, a former division director of the IRS's New Carrollton office, appears set to plead guilty in federal court today for his involvement in the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue scandal. Steven and his estranged wife are both longtime friends of Harriette Walters and have both been charged; Steven's charges are listed as possession of stolen property and conspiring to commit money laundering. Missing from the story: did Steven's IRS expertise help to make the scam possible? We're looking forward to finding out if and when a plea agreement is announced.