IRS agent admits cheating on his own taxes

An Internal Revenue Service agent who audits taxpayers in California has agreed to plead guilty to cheating on his own taxes.

In a plea agreement filed Monday in Orange County, 43-year-old Jim H. Liu of Diamond Bar admitted that he filed a tax return claiming a loss on a real estate transaction when he in fact saw a large profit.

He pleaded guilty to one federal count of subscribing to a false tax return, a charge that carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

According to the plea agreement, Liu sold a property in Pomona in 2002 for a profit of more than $48,000, but reported a loss of $4,200 on his taxes.

The tax loss to the government was more than $14,000.