Monika Skinger will spend 27 months in federal prison for trying to pull $4.6 million out of the Internal Revenue Service with payment papers that were not real. The Illinois woman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho says she walked away with more than $1.2 million of it before the scheme unraveled.
Judge Amanda Brailsford of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho also ordered three years of supervised release and $303,672.44 in restitution to the United States. The prison term and the restitution were announced September 14.
Fake instruments, real refunds
The government’s account is specific about the mechanics. Skinger conspired with others to file false individual and trust tax returns that claimed millions of dollars in refunds she had no right to receive. She personally filed at least four false individual income tax returns for herself and at least two false trust tax returns.
To make the IRS accept those returns, she submitted at least 16 fictitious financial instruments, among them checks, money orders and payment vouchers, for herself and for other people. IRS Criminal Investigation, the agency that ran the case, repeats the same count and the same totals: $4.6 million sought, more than $1.2 million received.
The gap between what was sought and what was received is the part of the case most relevant to taxpayers. Roughly a quarter of the amount she asked for was actually paid out. The court set restitution at $303,672.44, well below the more than $1.2 million she received.
The $303,672.44 restitution order is the figure that will move as payments are collected, against the more than $1.2 million Skinger received.
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A larger ring behind the sentence
Skinger was not working alone. The Justice Department has separately described a case against seven defendants in a tax refund scheme, charged on September 3, in which the defendants filed false individual and trust returns and more than 100 fictitious instruments in 2023 and 2024, claimed more than $57 million, and received more than $8 million from the IRS. That release lists Skinger, of Chicago, among those charged, and the charges there are allegations until each defendant is convicted. Besides Skinger, the release names Andrea and Kent Shannon of Kuna, Idaho, Sherita Chandler of Port St. Lucie, Florida, Saule Moshkanova of Roseville, California, Tiffany Nichols of Suwanee, Georgia, and Stacey Rice of Manteca, California. The conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge carries up to 20 years in prison, and the Shannons are accused of using refunds to buy personal property, including luxury cars.
The Idaho sentence is one outcome from that larger group. Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said Skinger “engaged in a wide-ranging tax fraud scheme that flooded the IRS with fictitious financial instruments” and “attempted to take millions in refunds she had no right to receive.” The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney David F. Scollan of the division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittney Campbell.
What a conspiracy to commit wire fraud conviction means
Wire fraud is a federal crime built on using electronic communications, to carry out a scheme to obtain money by false pretenses. Skinger’s plea was to conspiracy, meaning she admitted agreeing with others to carry out the fraud, and the sentence of 27 months followed. The Main Justice version of the announcement, posted by the Justice Department’s press office, carries the same sentence, the same plea and the same restitution figure.
McDonald and U.S. Attorney Bart Davis of the District of Idaho announced the sentence. The release credits IRS Criminal Investigation with the investigation, and it describes Skinger’s role as filing returns and submitting instruments both for herself and on behalf of others.
The release does not give the date she entered her plea, the dates of her own filings, her sentencing date or her city.
How the IRS tracks the claims that turn out to be fake
IRS Criminal Investigation, the agency’s law enforcement arm, investigated this case, and its published copy of the announcement at irs.gov is the free place to see how it describes tax refund fraud prosecutions. The agency calls itself the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, and it has 16 field offices in the United States. The Skinger announcement shows the pattern investigators describe here: returns claiming refunds the filer was not owed, supported by checks, money orders and payment vouchers that were fictitious.
For people filing their own returns, the lesson in this case runs the other way: a refund claim that depends on a check, money order or payment voucher as proof is a claim built on the kind of document at the center of this prosecution. Real refunds come from withholding and credits reported on a return, not from instruments the filer submits.
The Justice Department’s Tax Section handles these cases, and the sentence announced September 14 closes out one participant in a group of seven. The other defendants named in the September 3 charges are still presumed innocent until convicted.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
