In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On May 24, 1996, AMENDE completed and submitted certificates of live birth to the Gallatin County Clerk and Recorder's Office for a fictitious set of twin children. According to the birth certificates, Victoria Leigh Amende and Victor Robert Amende were born on December 28, 1995, to Ruth Elizabeth Wallace (AMENDE). The live birth was allegedly witnessed by AMENDE'S mother. AMENDE was 45 years of age at the time of the two alleged births. No doctor attended the births.

When applying for birth certificates in May of 1996, AMENDE checked the "Yes" box granting permission to provide the Social Security Administration with the birth certificate information to obtain a Social Security number and card for each child.

On January 13, 1997, AMENDE completed and submitted the Social Security Administration application for a social security card, Form SS-5, for each child. Subsequently, the Commission of Social Security assigned Social Security numbers to the fictitious children.

On November 11, 2004, an informant contacted the Bozeman FBI office to advise that AMENDE claimed to have given birth to a set of twins at home but these children did not exist.

On January 23, 2006, law enforcement interviewed a member of the AMENDE family. That person reported that the set of twins did not exist. AMENDE had given birth to only two children, both now grown adults. In fact, AMENDE had received a tubal ligation in 1977 prior to the twins' alleged birthdate.

On May 23, 2006, AMENDE was interviewed and admitted that her purported set of twins did not exist and that she had made them up to receive larger income tax refunds from both the federal and state revenue authorities. AMENDE stated she prepared her own tax returns on her computer. AMENDE advised she had claimed her set of non-existent twins on income tax records from 1995 to the date of the interview. The non-existent twins reported by AMENDE as her children on federal and state tax forms are Victoria Leigh Amende and Victor Robert Amende.

A review of AMENDE'S tax records found that she claimed a set of (fictitious) twins as dependents for all tax years within the tax statute of limitations (2001 through 2005), with filing of the 2005 tax return in calendar year 2006. The federal tax loss due to the tax deductions she claimed is $17,701.

AMENDE also misused the Social Security numbers of the two fictitious dependent children on income tax returns filed by her with the Montana Department of Revenue. The Montana Department of Revenue calculated the amount of loss to the State of Montana pertaining to the tax returns to be $1,799.

AMENDE faces possible penalties of 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release and costs of prosecution.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Horsman prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, the Montana Department of Justice, the Montana Department of Revenue and the Social Security Administration.