A woman in California lived for free in a hotel room for two years — a $55,000 bill — by pretending to be an IRS agent. Of course, now she’s been caught and has to pay it all back.

According to reports, the woman actually began living in the hotel in Novato, CA, about 40 miles north of San Francisco, in 2002. That’s also when she began telling hotel employees her made-up tale about being an agent for the Internal Revenue Service.

However, she apparently had no problem paying for her room on time until 2008, at which point she told a hotel co-owner that she would not be paid again until the completion of her current (nonexistent) investigation for the IRS. She even told them to write letters to the IRS — which she promised to delivery — explaining their need to be paid.

It all caught up with her earlier this year, when the woman ultimately pleaded guilty to charges of impersonating a federal officer. But rather than send the woman, now in her 60s and diabetic, to prison, she was given five years of supervised probation and ordered to pay the $55K to the hotel owners.

Fake IRS agent told to pay $55,000 hotel bill [SF Chronicle]

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