Ohio Taxation Department worker faces 11-count felony indictment

Ohio Inspector General Randall Meyer issued a report of investigation after a grand jury indicted an employee at the Ohio Department of Taxation.

After receiving a taxpayer’s call to confirm whether the Ohio Department of Taxation had received a recent payment, department of taxation officials noted that several suspicious financial transactions were performed by Tax Commission Agent Kathleen Hyer.

The Ohio Department of Taxation immediately contacted the inspector general in February 2012, and an investigation was initiated.

With investigative support from the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation lab, the inspector general found Hyer was exploiting overpayments being held by the Ohio Department of Taxation on existing business taxpayer accounts.

With the evidence provided by the inspector general’s investigation, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O’Brien obtained a grand jury indictment of Hyer for one felony count of theft in office, one felony count of tampering with records, and nine felony counts of forgery.

Ohio Inspector General Report of Investigation file number 2012 CA-00017 is now available at: http://watchdog.ohio.gov/Investigations/2012Investigations.aspx