In what may be a major embarrassment to the Internal Revenue Service, the tax agency recently refunded $2.1 million to a Philadelphia-area cafeteria worker who claimed she was Abigail K. Kawananakoa, Hawaiian heiress.
A story in today’s issue of the Philadelphia Daily News, reported that the IRS mistakenly sent Abigail Roberts, 61, and her husband the refund last month.
James Wright, an attorney for Kawananakoa, one of the heirs to the Campbell Estate, said, “there is no comment at this time in deference to law enforcement authorities.” Kawananakoa, 73, also declined comment through Wright.
The IRS quickly discovered its mistake and swooped in on Roberts, confiscating a 2003 Ford Explorer she purchased with the refund.
The News reported that Roberts used Kawananakoa’s Social Security number to recover money the heiress paid the IRS in estimated income taxes.
IRS spokesman Bill Cressman told the News: “An erroneous refund of this magnitude is a rare occurrence.”
...This is not the first time the Roberts have claimed to be Kawananakoa. In 1999 Abigail Roberts was charged in Philadelphia with stealing $34,360 from the federal government by claiming to be Kawananakoa and the lawful heir to Kamehameha Schools. She was indicted on six counts of mail fraud, 11 counts of money laundering and one count of making a false statement.
According to that indictment, Roberts applied for a Social Security card under Kawananakoa’s name in 1994 and then filed for refunds between 1994 and 1999. A source familiar with that case said “the judge basically let her off.”
The fact that Roberts was initially successful in obtaining another refund is embarrassing to the IRS since the agency was supposedly investigating her at the time she filed for and received the latest refund, according to court records.
