U.S. Department of Justice D J United States Attorney District of Massachusetts 1003 J.W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse Boston, Massachusetts 02109 December 18, 1995 Press Release IRS EMPLOYEE CONVICTED OF UNLAWFULLY ACCESSING TAX INFORMATION BOSTON . . . . A former employee of the Internal Revenue Service has been convicted by a federal jury for using IRS computers to make repeated unauthorized accesses of confidential taxpayer information. United States Attorney Donald K. Stern announced that, after a four-day trial in U.S. District Court, RICHARD W. CZUBINSKI, 32, 793 Columbia Road, Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, was convicted of using his employment position at the IRS to unlawfully access IRS computers to acquire confidential taxpayer information for his unauthorized and personal use. CZUBINSKI was convicted of 9 counts of wire fraud by defrauding the IRS, the United States Government and the public of their right to his honest services and by fraudulently obtaining confidential taxpayer return information. He was also convicted of 4 counts of computer fraud. Evidence presented at trial showed that in 1992, CZUBINSKI, then employed as an IRS Contact Representative, used his valid password to access the computers, but exceeded his authorized access by inspecting confidential taxpayer records of perceived and potential enemies, associates, and others. In particular, CZUBINSKI, then a member of the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and affiliated with other white supremacist groups, accessed certain associates to build "dossiers" on them out of a concern for the presence of informers. Other taxpayers whose confidential records were inspected by CZUBINSKI included an Assistant District Attorney from Suffolk County who was criminally prosecuting CZUBINSKI's father at the time, and a campaign committee called The Friends of [Councilor] Jim Kelly, against whom CZUBINSKI unsuccessfully ran in a preliminary election. CZUBINSKI is to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel B. Gorton on February 26, 1996. He faces a maximum punishment of 5 years in prison and $250,000 fine on each of the 13 counts of conviction. Stern said, "Government employees who have access to tax information have a special responsibility to protect the privacy of taxpayers. The defendant not only violated this trust, but did so to advance his personal agenda." The case was investigated by inspectors from the Internal Security Division of the Internal Revenue Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Theodore Merritt and Amy B. Lederer, both members of the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit. Press Contacts: Joy Fallon and Anne-Marie Kent, (617) 223-9445
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