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petitioner, respondent told her that she could cash the refund
check, which she promptly did on February 26, 2002, at a Bank One
branch where petitioner had an account.
On or about March 11, 2002, respondent mailed to petitioner
a replacement refund check for $3,810 for 1998 (replacement
check). Shortly thereafter, respondent notified petitioner that
she owed $3,810 plus interest because she had cashed both the
refund check and the replacement check. Petitioner denied that
she had cashed the replacement check and informed respondent that
she had moved to a new address in Plano, Texas, around February
28, 2002, and never received a second check for 1998.
An investigation was conducted by the Taxpayer Advocate
Service (TAS). The TAS recovered a copy of both the refund check
and the replacement check, which was cashed on March 29, 2002, at
the Mineola Community Bank in Mineola, Texas. Petitioner
compared the endorsement signatures from the refund check and the
replacement check and told investigators that the signature on
the replacement check was not hers.
Petitioner is not fluent in English, and she is illiterate.
At trial, she was assisted by an interpreter. Because she does
not read or write, petitioner signs her name by imitating the
characters.2 On the refund check, petitioner signed her name by
2 As petitioner’s trial interpreter stated: “* * * she does
not know how to write. So she just has memorized the letters of
(continued...)
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