Summary
Therecently exposed embezzlement of some $20 million from the coffers of the District of Columbia represents another humiliation for a city whose public corruption is legendary. Starting in 2004, two long-term employees of the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR), Harriette Walters and Diane Gustus, allegedly issued millions of dollars worth of phony tax refunds to front businesses owned by friends and relatives.
Those two employees clearly did not act alone. Three other alleged co-conspirators - friends and relatives of the suspects - have been arrested. Worse, many more city employees were likely involved. Individual government workers cannot issue tax refund checks without a series of overlapping authorizations and signatures designed to prevent exactly this kind of crime. Court papers filed by law enforcement officials allege that Ms. Walters and Ms. Gustus showered their colleagues with gifts and cash, and that at least five other, as-yet-uncharged, OTR employees approved scores of phony checks. Common sense suggests that these individuals were guilty of more than mere incompetence.See the full content of this document
Extract
A D.C. Case for Rico
Such corruption is unacceptable, especially in our nation's capital. The United States' calls for transparency and the rule of law look hypo...
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