Defendant Committed Crimes while Employed as Revenue Agent in Albuquerque IRS Office
ALBUQUERQUE - Joan D. Mobley, 55, of Socorro, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Santa Fe, N.M., to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for her conviction on a false statement charge and two aggravated identity theft charges. Mobley also was ordered to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $39,738.32 and a $4,000.00 fine. Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and Cordale Lamb of Denver Field Division of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) announced the sentence.
Mobley is a former employee of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). She began working for the IRS in 1986 and was a revenue agent at the IRS office in Albuquerque at the time she committed the crimes to which she pleaded guilty. As a revenue agent, Mobley was responsible for performing audits of small businesses and self-employed taxpayers.
On Jan. 3, 2014, a federal grand jury filed a 28-count indictment charging Mobley with 14 counts of making false statements and 14 counts of aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment, between Jan. 2011 and Dec. 2011, Mobley falsely stated and represented to the IRS that certain taxpayers either had consented to extending the time for assessing employment taxes or agreed to the collection and assessment of additional taxes. The indictment also alleged that Mobley used the identification of those taxpayers in making those false statements without obtaining consent.
On March 13, 2017, Mobley pled guilty to one false statements charge and two aggravated identity theft charges. In her plea agreement, Mobley acknowledged that while she was employed as a revenue agent for the IRS and was responsible for conducting audits of small businesses, she was assigned to audit a business located in California. Mobley acknowledged that, instead of completing the audit as required, she falsified official records to indicate that she had completed the audit. Mobley also acknowledged signing the name of the business’s president on the records even though she did not have permission to do so.
Mobley falsified these records knowing that they constituted false statements under federal laws and concerned matters that were within the jurisdiction of the IRS. One of the records falsified by Mobley was dated Jan. 10, 2011, and stated that a representative of the aforementioned California-based business had agreed to an extension of time to assess employment taxes. Another record, dated April 7, 2011, falsely stated that the business had agreed to the assessment and collection of additional taxes. Mobley falsified these records knowing that no representative of the business had agreed either to the extension or to the assessment and collection of additional taxes. She acknowledged falsifying the records while in New Mexico.
This case was investigated by the Denver Field Division of TIGTA and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Sean J. Sullivan.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
