Date: 08-26-2015

Case Style: United States of America v. Kenneth Goheen

Case Number: 1:15-cr-00110-LY

Judge: Lee Yeakel

Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (Travis County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Matt Harding and Daniel Castillo

Defendant's Attorney: Rain Levy Minns

Description: Austin, TX - Former Internal Revenue Service Employee Sentenced to Federal Prison for Wire Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme

A 57-year-old former Internal Revenue Service employee Kenneth Goheen of Austin was sentenced to two years plus one day in federal prison for his role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge William Cotter, and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Special Agent in Charge Ruben Florez, Dallas Field Division.

United States District Judge Lee Yeakel also ordered that Goheen forfeit $15,442.02 seized from his bank accounts and pay a remaining sum of $104,292.02 restitution to the government. Judge Yeakel also ordered that Goheen be placed on supervised release for a period of three years after completing his prison term.

On June 3, 2015, Goheen pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. By pleading guilty, Goheen, a former Tax Examining Technician, admitted that he wrongfully obtained identification information from Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) applicants and used it to file more than 50 fraudulent tax returns between March 2013 and January 2015. Goheen collected over $120,000 in refunds based on those fraudulent tax returns.

“Goheen’s conduct is doubly offensive. He not only stole money from the government, but he used his unique position in the government—a position of trust—to wrongfully enrich himself,” stated U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

Outcome: See above

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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