Washington tax scam may have netted $20M

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Washington authorities say a recently disrupted tax office scam may have netted its participants more than $20 million before investigators intervened.

While investigators have only found $4 million in lost funds from the Washington Office of Tax and Revenue, records indicate there could be significantly more money missing in the growing corruption case, The Washington Post said Sunday.

U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor said the reason behind the fast pace of the corruption investigation was to limit the amount of money stolen by its key suspects.

"We got to a point we believed we had reasonably found a good portion of the (stolen) money, and we couldn't wait any longer," Taylor said of Wednesday's arrests. "There is always a risk that if you wait too long, there will be nothing left."

Authorities arrested tax office employees Harriette Walters and Diane Gustus after investigating only several months.

Investigators allege the suspects garnered the funds by using incorrect paperwork and phony companies to sign off on sizable refund checks from the tax office, the Post reported.