Ever since the queen of all local government crooks, D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue embezzler Harriette Walters, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison, there’s been a tiny little hole in our collective hearts. We’d been following the $50 million tax scam case, and all its twists and turns along the way, since it first broke in 2007. Now that’s it’s over, to where will we turn when we feel like shaking our fists in disgust at governmental corruption? Luckily, we live in the District of Columbia, where corruption in local government is as common as dirt.

Behold, these pair of stories from the Examiner’s Scott McCabe, introducing us to our newest obsessions:

• First, there’s sisters Carolyne R. Jones, 50, and Johanna R. Jones, 47, owners of a tax preparation business in South Carolina. The Jones ladies are accused of ripping off the District government to the tune of $800,000 by filing 173 fraudulent tax returns in the names of their clients. You’ll note that this scam, much like the Harriette Walters scheme, was only discovered after someone outside of the D.C. government called attention to it. “The investigation began in February 2008 after a post office worker forwarded an incorrectly addressed letter to a Columbia, S.C., woman stating that she was paid $4,300 in income tax refunds from the District the previous year.” The Jones sisters have allegedly been at this game since about 2005.
• Second, there’s Tawanna Sellmon, a former project manager in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer who has pleaded guilty to accepting gift cards and cash in the ongoing OCTO bribery case. Sellmon admitted she helped process phony invoices that were part of the Yusuf Acar/Sushil Bansal bribery conspiracy, and also gave Bansal the password to the city’s computerized database used to track purchase orders. Sellmon’s personal take? About $2,000 in cash and untold amounts of $100 gift cards. But the best part is: “Sellmon and Bansal met while both worked at the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.” That, of course, is the department that houses the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue!