United States of America v. Rodney Quinn Rupe

Salt Lake City, Utah, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with attempted to steal more than $2 million in tax credits and wire fraud.

On April 15, 2022, Rodney Quinn Rupe, 47, of Syracuse, Utah, an employee of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, accessed the IRS systems and moved tax credits in the amount of $2,021,986 from ExxonMobil’s taxpayer account to a taxpayer account for Ex XO Exteriors Ltd., a company Rupe created and controlled. He admitted that he moved the tax credits through three separate transfers, each of which used interstate wires. On September 18, 2023, Rupe transferred the tax credits so they would be applied to the 2019 tax year account for his company, knowing it would result in a refund check to Ex XO Exteriors Ltd. On October 31, 2023, Rupe resigned from the IRS and unsuccessfully attempted to deposit the refund check multiple times in 2024, and was subsequently arrested. See prior press release: Former IRS Employee Accused of Attempting to Steal More than $2M from the Government and ExxonMobil.

“As a former IRS employee, Mr. Rupe accessed an IRS database as a trusted government employee to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars for his own personal use,” said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah. “This administration is committed to ferreting out programmatic government fraud, particularly by those who abused their positions rather than protecting the Americans they swore to serve.”

The case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

Assistant United States Attorney Carl D. LeSueur of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.

The Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to 12 months and a day imprisonment.