Reading between the lines, it appears that Frank F. Frink of Washington lost his gamble that the government wouldn’t catch up with his tax crimes until after he left this world on a high note and a pocket full of cash.

Although the IRS is usually slow to pick up on tax evasion and other tax crimes, they do eventually usually catch up to criminal and civil tax shenanigans … it’s just a matter of time. Mr. Frink doesn’t have to report to prison until September for his tax crimes, allowing him time to seek treatment for undisclosed medical issues. If he’s still around in September, he will have to serve a one year prison term for his tax crimes.

My assumption that he wanted to leave this world with a pocket full of cash is based on the referenced medical problems and absurdly bold manner in which he robbed the IRS. Frink plead guilty to filing a false, fictitious and fraudulent tax claim on his 2008 tax return and was sentenced earlier this week. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Frink hired a tax preparer to prepare his 2008 return and calculated he was owed a refund of $7,413. This is a pretty substantial refund for most households these days. However, for Frink, it was not enough. So he sought the help of a witless tax preparer to fund his final days; he went to H&R Block.

After his first tax preparer determine that he was owed a federal tax refund of $7,413, Frink went to an H & R Block branch with bogus tax forms showing that more than $1 million had been withheld in taxes. H & R Block then calculated he was therefore owed a tax refund of $827,117. The IRS issued Frink this windfall and didn’t catch the fraud for some time as he wasn’t criminally charged until September 2012, approximately three years later. Even when the IRS began to investigate Frink’s tax crimes, he continued to spend his generous tax refund.

While Frink may be living on borrowed time and took advantage of the IRS, most taxpayers want to resolve their tax headache without the specter of prison time. If you’re fighting the IRS, and don’t have Frink’s exit strategy, our tax law firm offers a free consultation so you may determine if we’re the right tax attorneys to fight the IRS for you.