A Hispanic woman who was given a $2.1 million tax refund after filing a false claim went on a massive spending spree until she was caught

Krystle Marie Reyes was only caught after she reported the Visa card containing the seven figure sum had been lost. By that time she had already spent more than $150,000, including buying a car and other household items. The 25-year-old from Salem, Oregon, had used Turbo Tax to file her income tax return for 2011. She claimed earnings of $3 million but used the tax calculator program to claim a refund of $2.1 million. Due to the size of the refund, her electronic claims was examined by several people within the Oregon Revenue Department. Incredibly they approved the payout and Reyes, from Salem, Oregon, was sent a visa card by the tax preparation computer program containing a balance of $2.1 million. She went on a spending spree and spent more than $150,000. She later reported the card missing prompting an investigation which uncovered the massive fraud which is believed to be the biggest in the history of the state of Oregon. Reyes, according to an arrest affidavit, paid $2,000 in cash for a 1999 Dodge Caravan and used the card to buy $800 worth of tires and wheels. She was also caught on CCTV cameras using the card at various outlets. According to the probable cause statement, Reyes spent $13,000 in Marion County over two days in February 2012, $26,000 in March 2012 and more than $35,000 in April 2012. The statement says that the fraud was discovered May 7, 2012 by the issuer of the debit card after Reyes reported a second card as lost or stolen. Oregon Department of Justice agents arrested Reyes at a Northeast Salem address. The apparent ease with which Reyes was able to defraud the state revenue department has stunned officials. The revenue department processes about $7 billion in tax returns each year on computer systems designed in the 1980s. In January 2012, the state's chief operating officer, Michael Jordan, pulled the plug on a $100 million computer upgrade that the department said would pay for itself by finding tax cheats. In 2010, the state reported $559 million in delinquent taxes, mostly from unpaid personal and corporate income taxes. Revenue officials estimate that, in 2006, Oregon's personal income tax compliance rate was 81.5% - far lower than other states - and translating to $1.2 billion in unreported or uncollected taxes that year. Reyes has been charged with aggravated theft and computer crime.