Seven people have pleaded guilty in what has been described as the biggest embezzlement case in Washington DC, and five more, including Hariette Walters, a former Washington DC tax officer who started the scam, are awaiting trial.
The seven are either friends or related to Walters, who she recruited and who, over a almost a 20-year period, helped her defraud the US of as much as $50m (₤25m)the Washington Post reports.
Robert Steven, a former Internal Revenue Service employee and longtime friend of Walters, and his estranged wife, who also faces charges, were accused of handling more than $9.2m in refund checks from 1990 through 2006.
Another friend of Walters, Walter Jones, a former Bank of America manager, deposited almost $18m in fraudulent checks from 2000 to 2006 and helped distribute stolen money to others. He admitted receiving at least $366,000 in illegal proceeds.
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