Helping The IRS

The teller who accepted the two income tax refund checks for deposit just happened to notice the amount of the refund on one was the same as hers had been-$699. It stuck in her mind as did the name on the joint account.

A few days later, as luck would have it, the other owner came in to make a deposit-of two large income tax refund checks payable to the same two individuals on the joint account from before. Unfortunately for him, he happened to pick the same teller's window.

The teller wondered about the number of refunds and asked the branch manager about them. After some discussion, they called IRS-CID (Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division) and filed an SAR (Suspicious Activity Report).

What IRS-CID found was illegal multiple filings-16 of them-all with refunds due. The total of the claimed refunds was almost $150,000. Discovered because a teller remembered a name and an amount.

Copyright © 1998 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 8, No. 6 5/98