An Exxon Mobil tax credit theft attempt in Utah has resulted in the charging of a former IRS employee.

• An ex-IRS staff member was charged in a Utah federal court for allegedly attempting to pilfer $2.1 million in tax credits that were due to oil and gas titan Exxon Mobil.
• An ex-IRS worker, Rodney Quinn Rupe, was found guilty of diverting Exxon's tax credits to an entity he created and received a U.S. Treasury check in that amount, according to prosecutors.
• In Salt Lake City, Rupe is accused of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and stealing government property after attempting to deposit a check at several credit union locations.

An ex-IRS staff member was indicted in a Utah federal court for allegedly attempting to pilfer $2.1 million in tax credits due to taxpayers by manipulating a database he had access to.

On Wednesday, prosecutors stated that Rodney Quinn Rupe, a former IRS account management worker, received a $2,100,377 check from the U.S. Treasury in January after diverting Exxon's tax credits to an entity he created. He then attempted to deposit the check at multiple credit union locations over the following two months.

In Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court, Rupe, a 46-year-old resident of Syracuse, Utah, is facing charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and theft of government property.

The legal news website Court Watch highlighted the case on Thursday, which is set for his first appearance in court on July 3.

In 2021, Rupe was employed at the Internal Revenue Service's service center in Ogden, Utah, when he initiated a diversion scheme, as stated in an indictment filed on Wednesday.

Rupe was able to modify tax, credit, penalty, and interest for specific taxpayer accounts in an IRS database as part of his job, according to the indictment.

In April 2021, Rupe accessed Exxon's taxpayer account through the IRS database and three months later used the database to assign a new Employer Identification Number ("EIN") to an entity that Rupe created and controlled, Ex Xo Exteriors Ltd., according to the indictment.

In April 2022, Rupe allegedly accessed a database to transfer $2.02 million in tax credits from Exxon's taxpayer account to Ex Xo Exteriors Ltd.'s taxpayer account, according to the indictment.

In August 2023, Rupe accessed an IRS database to transfer diverted tax credit funds from one tax year to another, according to the indictment.

According to the indictment, he allegedly applied tax credits to Ex Xo Exterior's 2019 tax account a month later, resulting in a $2.1 million refund from the IRS in the form of a Treasury check.

He attempted to deposit the check at several America First Credit Union branches.

An IRS spokesman had no immediate comment on the case.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City has indicted Exxon Mobil, and requested comment from Rupe's defense lawyer, a spokesman for America First Credit Union, and the office of the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, who investigated Rupe.