A former US tax official was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday for leaking to the media the tax returns of a very high-ranking official in 2020, the US Department of Justice said, according to AFP.

In its statement, the Department did not name former President Donald Trump or the media involved.

However, the facts and data are consistent with the publication by the New York Times in September 2020 of the then-president’s tax returns, followed by the publication in 2021 by media investigators ProPublica of a series of documents on billionaire tax evasion.

Charles Littlejohn, 38, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to unauthorized disclosure of tax returns. He was sentenced to the highest degree of punishment.

“This conviction should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of following Mr Littlejohn’s example,” IRS Inspector General Heather Gill was quoted as saying in a statement.

The tax inspectorate “constantly checks those who illegally consult and disclose information about taxpayers, regardless of their motives,” she emphasized.

Breaking with long-standing tradition, Donald Trump has always refused to release his tax returns.

A New York Times investigation in September 2020 found that he paid just $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017, and none in 10 of the previous 15 years, largely due to reports of large losses from his companies.

In addition, a New York State Supreme Court business division judge ordered him to pay $392,638 in legal fees to the New York Times and its reporters on January 12 after dismissing a lawsuit he filed against them.

Their investigation, published in 2018 and awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2019, details how the self-proclaimed former developer built his fortune.

It claimed that Donald Trump would have actually received the equivalent of $413 million today from his father over several years, some of which would have been funneled through a shell company to avoid paying taxes.