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Keith Williams

Defendant

ERC
Type
Person
Role
Defendant
Programs
ERC
Updated

The profile

The West Hempstead, New York owner of a credit-repair storefront called Credit Reset, charged in January 2025 as the lead defendant in what the Justice Department called the largest Employee Retention Credit case in the country: more than 8,000 false returns seeking more than $600 million. He has not been convicted; the charges are allegations.

Identity and role

Keith Williams, 46 when the indictment was unsealed on January 22, 2025, of West Hempstead, New York, is the first-named defendant in United States v. Williams et al., No. 2:25-cr-00020 (E.D.N.Y.). The superseding indictment of November 12, 2025 says he owned and controlled Credit Reset Me Inc., "purportedly a credit repair business" at 683 Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square, New York. It lists three other New York corporations he controlled: 109 Super Store Motors Inc., Babylon Buyers Group Inc. and Lucky 13 Sports Bar and Grill Corp.

The case and pandemic-relief role

According to the superseding indictment, from November 2021 to June 2023 Williams and his co-defendants "orchestrated a scheme to submit more than $600 million in fraudulent requests for COVID-Related Tax Credits." They did it by filing more than 8,000 false Forms 941, the quarterly payroll return on which employers claimed the Employee Retention Credit and the paid sick and family leave credits. The Treasury disbursed approximately $45 million. Most of the businesses, the U.S. Attorney's Office said, "had no legitimate operations or employees." The indictment says the preparers left their own names off the returns and at times used virtual private networks to hide where they were filing from. Several defendants also filed PPP loan applications; the superseding indictment lists one for Williams as a sole proprietor, for $20,833.

The January 2025 release is the source of the case's color. It says Williams compared the scheme, on a recorded call, to "taking candy from a baby." A search of his home turned up goods from Rolex, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Balenciaga and Versace, a Land Rover, a Polaris Slingshot and a Tesla Model Y. A co-defendant, Jamari Lewis, an aspiring rapper, posted a song called "I'm Really Sophisticated (IRS)" with the agency's logo on the cover.

  • Charged: indictment filed January 15, 2025 and unsealed January 22, 2025, charging conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud and aiding and assisting false returns, against Williams, Janine Davis, Morais Dicks, James Hames Jr., Jamari Lewis, Ewendra Mathurin and Tiffany Williams.
  • Superseding indictment: November 12, 2025. It names Williams, Davis, Dicks, Hames, Lewis and a new defendant, Louewanda Benjamin, owner of LBA Holdings, Inc.
  • Co-defendant sentenced: Tiffany Williams, a Brooklyn tax preparer, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to 36 months in prison, the Justice Department announced on May 13, 2026. It put the loss to the United States at approximately $45 million.
  • We found no plea agreement, verdict or judgment for Keith Williams; the charges against him are allegations.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

The case against Williams was pending in the Eastern District of New York at the time of the last record we found. The Justice Department's "largest" is its own ranking. A New Jersey complaint of March 2024 alleged a larger claim, about $2.9 billion, and Leon Haynes, with about $170 million sought, is the largest ERC case tried to a verdict.

Sources

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