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Jason Toland

Defendant

ERC
Type
Person
Role
Defendant
Programs
ERC
Updated

The profile

A Wheatland, California man who used shell companies with no employees to seek more than $11 million in Employee Retention Credit and sick-leave refunds and to collect more than $1.7 million in PPP and EIDL loans. Of $13.4 million sought across the programs he obtained about $1.95 million. He was sentenced in November 2024 to 35 months.

Identity and role

Jason Toland, 43 at his plea and 44 at sentencing, of Wheatland in Yuba County, California, was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California as part of the California COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force. IRS Criminal Investigation led the investigation with the IRS's Nationally Coordinated Investigation Unit, the SBA Office of Inspector General and the FBI.

The scheme and pandemic-relief role

According to the office, Toland used shell companies "that had no real employees and no actual business activity" for three kinds of claims:

  1. Forms 941 and 941-X to the IRS seeking Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and COVID sick and family leave credit refunds, more than $11 million in all.
  2. Paycheck Protection Program loan applications to banks.
  3. Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications to the SBA.

Between 2020 and 2023 the loans brought in more than $1.7 million. In total he sought more than $13.4 million and obtained more than $1.95 million, all of which "went to his own personal enrichment," the office said. The releases do not say how much of the $1.95 million came from the ERC and leave-credit refunds; the loans alone account for more than $1.7 million of it.

  • Pleaded guilty: May 13, 2024, to one count of submitting false claims against the United States.
  • Sentenced: November 19, 2024, by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to two years and 11 months in prison and $2,078,462 in restitution to the IRS and the SBA.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

The November 2024 sentence is the last public record of Toland we found.

Sources

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