Lin Fulcher, special programs manager for the authority, said the woman claimed she had been laid off from her job with the IRS in order to falisify her income and collect the rental assistance for three years, The Standard Examiner reported.

In fact, Fulcher said, the woman was working. The authority verified her income through a U.S. Housing and Urban Development database, The Standard Examiner reported. Federal investigators are handling the case because the woman was an IRS employee.

Because the payments were sent to a landlord outside Utah, the woman could face federal wire fraud charges, Fulcher told The Standard Examiner.

The authority has launched four other investigations in the last year for more than $139,000 in rental assistance fraud, each case involving false income information, Fulcher said. Clients pleaded guilty in two of the cases and were ordered to pay restitution. The remaining cases are not resolved.