Five current or former IRS employees in the Memphis area obtained thousands in COVID relief money and then spent those funds on things like a new car, designer clothing and a trip to Las Vegas, according to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ said the five employees obtained the money by submitting false applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs, totaling over $1 million in ill-gotten gains.
Those programs were set up by the government as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES. The CARES act was set up to help people with the financial impact of the COVID pandemic. But, according to the DOJ, these IRS employees used that money instead for cars, luxury goods and vacations.
Brian Saulsberry, 46 of Memphis, was employed by the IRS as a Program Evaluation and Risk Analyst in the Human Capital Office, the DOJ said. An indictment accuses Saulsberry of obtaining $171,400 in loans through the EIDL program. He allegedly spent a portion of that money on a Mercedes-Benz and put more of the funds in a personal investment account, the department of justice said. He has been charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.
Courtney Quinshe Westmoreland, 38 of Cordova, was employed by the IRS as a Contact Representative in the Wage and Investment Service Centers Department. An indictment accuses Westmoreland of submitting multiple false claims...
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