The brother of the former manager of the Washington, D.C., tax office has pleaded guilty in a wide-ranging tax scandal.
Managers and employees of the office and their relatives have been accused of filing false claims for property tax refunds, going back over two decades. Up to $50 million may have been stolen in the scheme and only a small portion has been recovered, according to the Washington Post.
Richard Walters was one of 11 people charged in the scheme. His sister, Harriette, was the former manager of the D.C. tax office and has been blamed for hatching the scheme, with the help of her niece, Jayrece Turnbull. They have been in jail since they were arrested in November.
As part of his guilty plea, Richard Walters has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He also agreed to forfeit two properties in the Virgin Islands, two homes in Bowie, Va., jewelry, a $160,000 Bentley and four other cars, and over $1.4 million in 13 bank accounts, according to the Post. Before the guilty plea, he returned an additional $405,000. Prosecutors also recovered $480,000 that he had deposited in the Virgin Islands.
