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Damian R. Raby

Defendant

ERC
Type
Person
Role
Defendant
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ERC
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The profile

A Gonzales, Louisiana man who invented Baton Rouge-area businesses, got them employer ID numbers and bank accounts, and collected more than 30 IRS checks worth about $4.4 million in Employee Retention Credits. After pleading guilty to money laundering conspiracy and obstruction, he was sentenced in November 2025 to 216 months, the longest term announced in the Justice Department's ERC case releases through September 15, 2026.

Identity and role

Damian R. Raby, 41 when charged and 42 at sentencing, of Gonzales, Louisiana, was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Louisiana after an investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, with help from the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.

The scheme and pandemic-relief role

According to the admissions in his guilty plea, as the office described them, from August 2022 to April 2023 Raby filed Employee Retention Credit claims for "numerous businesses purportedly located in the Baton Rouge area" that "either did not exist during the COVID-19 pandemic or that did not have any legitimate business activity prior to the pandemic."

The method used the IRS's own front end. Raby asked the IRS to assign Employer Identification Numbers to the invented businesses, opened bank accounts in their names, and filed tax forms reporting employees and payroll they did not have. He filed for dozens of businesses, and the IRS issued more than 30 checks totaling approximately $4.4 million. The money moved quickly among accounts he controlled and went to payments on luxury vehicles, the mortgage on his home and other large purchases.

When he learned of the investigation, he made false statements to an IRS agent, sent the IRS fictitious documents and encouraged a witness to give the IRS false information, the office said.

  • Charged: by bill of information, announced December 17, 2024, with conspiracy to launder money and obstructing the administration of the internal revenue laws.
  • Convicted: on his guilty plea to both counts.
  • Sentenced: by U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles to 216 months (18 years) in federal prison and three years of supervised release, with $2,603,678.04 in restitution to the Treasury and forfeiture of $2,045,241.58, the office announced on November 13, 2025.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

The November 2025 sentence is the last public record of Raby we found. The sentence is longer than the 144 months given to Leon Haynes, whose returns sought more than $170 million; the charges differed, and Raby's included money laundering and obstruction. Restitution and forfeiture together come to $4,648,919.62, a little more than the approximately $4.4 million the IRS paid.

Sources

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