Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Santa Fe woman sentenced to a year in prison for illegally cashing U.S. Treasury checks

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Zayra Olivia Alvarado, 38, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, was sentenced to one year in federal prison on September 8, after guilty of five cases of theft of US public funds and an ancillary charges had known aiding and abetting theft of public funds from the United States. Alvarado pleaded guilty on November 16, 2020.

According to court records, Alvarado received tax refund checks from the US Treasury Department in 2014 and 2015 that were fraudulently obtained. She used her position at Wells Fargo Bank to open accounts on behalf of the people to whom the checks were written or to look for accounts with names similar to those on the checks. Alvarado then either cashed the checks or deposited them into the accounts she opened and withdrew funds from the accounts.

In addition to her sentence, Alvarado has to pay $ 23,195 in compensation. After her release from prison, Alvarado must be released under supervision for three years.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this case. US assistant attorneys Kimberly Brawley and Steve Kotz are pursuing the case.

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