$13.8M COVID Tax Credit Scheme Lands Tax Preparer 5 Years in Prison

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Colin McDonald announced the Justice Department’s first nationwide tax fraud surge. Host Greg Bishop reviews clips looking at fraud action in the DOJ and HHS. The DOJ brought prosecutorial actions against 76 defendants in 45 days, with alleged and proven crimes totaling more than $490 million in intended losses, in cases from Alaska to Maine. McDonald cited an estimate that taxpayers lose up to $304 billion a year to fraud against the IRS. DOJ gave two example cases: A construction company owner is accused of willfully withholding $2.8 million in employee trust fund taxes over five years. A North Carolina tax preparer was sentenced to 60 months in prison over a $13.8 million scheme using fraudulent COVID-19 tax credit refunds.