American Morning

Tune in at 6am Eastern for all the news you need to start your day.
April 15th, 2010
08:00 AM ET

Prosecutors: IRS is like an ATM for inmates

(CNN) – Tax fraud can land you in jail for years, but would you believe one of the most successful tax scams is being pulled off from behind bars?

Experts say it's happening, the IRS knows about it and the government isn't doing anything to stop it. Our John Zarrella has the report.


Filed under: Crime
soundoff (6 Responses)
  1. Talliana

    Why is this news? Inmates having been doing this for years. I used to work in corrections and every year we had inmates getting tax refunds sent to the prison address.

    April 15, 2010 at 9:17 pm |
  2. J Smith

    A correctional officer was convicted to 2 years for helping inmates bilk 3 million dollars in IRS tax scam this February. She is at the Lowell Correctional Institute in Florida. The IRS and Federal Government didn't want to prosecute, so the state did.

    April 15, 2010 at 12:47 pm |
  3. Dave

    Why shouldn't convicts get in on the action? Major coorporations, banks and religious organizations have been stealing from taxpayers for decades. Before we start concentrating our efforts and attentions on convicted criminals who are already incarcerated, maybe the government should first look at those criminals I have listed above, in addition to corrupt politicians, defense contractors, the insurance industry, etc.

    April 15, 2010 at 11:37 am |
  4. tina

    i find this all funny i was with a guy in 2008 who was doing this for inmates i sent the irs all the paper work n the check i found at his home. still nothing has been done to him. wow irs wtg on stoping all this

    April 15, 2010 at 8:44 am |
  5. Joyce

    If the IRS could crackdown on people that don't pay their taxes and all the medicare and medicaid frauid we could probably the balance right there. I get tired of seeing the ads for lawyers that claim to get people's taxes reduced to almost nothing and then brag. Why did these people get so far behind and then get a free pass??? It just ain't right.

    April 15, 2010 at 8:21 am |
  6. ronvan

    Just another reason that the IRS needs to be shut down!

    April 15, 2010 at 8:19 am |