sisyphusshrugged | and then my wife, Morgan Fairchild, had medical expenses...

Last year around this time, the authorities said, things seemed to be going pretty well for Benjamin Harris, a career office temp from Crown Heights, Brooklyn. His 2001 tax return had been processed speedily, and his refund check had been direct-deposited into his account at an HSBC bank branch in Manhattan.

But when Mr. Harris went to withdraw some of the money at an A.T.M., he was denied access. When he complained to the bank, he was advised to contact the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Harris dutifully complied, hoping to get the situation resolved. But there was a problem.

The problem, prosecutors said, was that on his return, Mr. Harris, 47, claimed that he was a lawyer for the Temporary Time Capital Corporation, had earned nearly $9 million, and was entitled to (and received) a refund of $1,580,065.

In fact, the authorities said, he did no work at all in 2001 for Temporary Time. The last time he had, in 2000, he had earned $1,061.

The Internal Revenue Service invited Mr. Harris to come down to their office on Broadway in Manhattan yesterday morning to discuss the matter...