An IRS agent has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman while he was performing an audit of a Tennessee business, police said.
Samuel Garza, 36, has been charged with two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure in connection to the assault that took place Sept. 3, according to the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office.
It’s the first known case of an IRS agent using an audit as a means for sexual assault.
According to court papers, Mr. Garza visited the owner of a business on Fairview Boulevard to conduct a tax audit.
Mr. Garza then “made sexual overtures and implied the business could be lost without cooperation,” according to an affidavit.
He told the victim that he would return the next day and ordered her to wear a dress before he sexually assaulted her despite her pleas for him to stop. The victim “feared for the loss of her business,” according to the affidavit.
Mr. Garza came back to the business the next day and sexually assaulted the victim again. The affidavit states she was “fearful, upset and uncomfortable with Mr. Garza’s actions.”
The sheriff’s office did not release the name of the business that was being audited.
Mr. Garza was arraigned Tuesday and the county sheriff’s department confirmed that he was still in custody Wednesday.
He is being held in the Williamson County Criminal Justice Center on a $200,000 bond, according to sheriff’s department news release.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office said there are no other charges against Mr. Garza out of Williamson County.
The IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
In a statement, the IRS said it holds employees to high standards and does not tolerate inappropriate behavior in the workplace or with taxpayers. When questions arise, the IRS works closely with the treasury, inspector general for tax administration and other law enforcement agencies, local NBC news station WSMV reported.
The incident is the latest blow to the agency already grappling with the Department of Justice after it was revealed two years ago that the agency had singled out conservative groups for special scrutiny, subjecting their applications for nonprofit status to intrusive investigations and improperly delaying approvals.
Earlier this month Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican and the Senate’s top lawmaker and chairman of its Finance Committee, sent a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen which revealed the agency is still investigating 11 cases of political wrongdoing by its own employees and had to reprimand eight others for behavior that was in danger of crossing the line.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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