Union City “Ghost Preparer” Pleads Guilty to Fraudulently Seeking Over $4 Million in COVID-19 Employment Tax Credits
Summary
Dantavious Jackson, 39, of Union City, Georgia, a truckdriver who ran a “ghost” tax preparation business on the side, pled guilty to mail fraud, said Tara M. Lyons, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. According to the plea agreement, between June 2022 and August 2023 Jackson prepared and filed thirty-five IRS Forms 941 for Jackson and two clients that falsely claimed $4,112,297 in tax refunds based on fraudulently claimed ERCs, listing employees and wages that did not exist. The scheme induced the U.S. Treasury to mail $1,567,855 in fraudulent tax refunds. Jackson did not give a PTIN or other self-identifying information on returns filed for clients, and faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
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Scheme caused IRS to issue over $1.5 million in fraudulent tax refunds AUGUSTA, GA: A truckdriver who operated a “ghost” tax preparation business on the side in Union City, Georgia, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to executing a mail fraud scheme to defraud the United States by making claims for refunds of false COVID-19 related employment tax credits. Dantavious Jackson , 39, of Union City, Georgia, pled guilty to mail fraud, said Tara M. Lyons, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Jackson now faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. As described in the plea agreement, Jackson owned and operated a trucking business in Union City, Georgia. On the side, Jackson also prepared tax forms for others for a fee. Any individual who prepared and assisted in preparing federal tax returns for a fee was required to obtain a preparer identification number (“PTIN”) from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). A paid preparer was required to place his or her PTIN on each tax return he or she prepared for a fee to identify the preparer of that return. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or CARES Act, enacted on March 27, 2020, provided for an employee retention credit (“ERC”), a refundable tax credit, which was designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ERC was claimed by an employer by filing an IRS Form 941, “Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns” (“Forms 941”) with the IRS for the relevant quarter. Between June 2022 and August 2023, Jackson executed a scheme to defraud the United States by preparing and filing thirty-five IRS Forms 941 for himself and two clients that falsely claimed they were entitled to receive $4,112,297 in tax refunds based on fraudulently claimed ERCs. The Forms 941 Jackson prepared and filed with IRS were false and fraudulent because they listed employees and wages that did not actually exist. Jackson’s use of fake employees and wages to claim ERCs induced the U.S. Treasury to mail $1,567,855 in fraudulent tax refunds to himself and his clients. Jackson prepared and filed the tax returns as a “ghost preparer,” meaning that he did not identify himself through a PTIN or by any other self-identifying information in the “Paid Preparer Use Only” section on the returns he filed for clients. “Jackson’s guilty plea serves as a reminder to those who committed fraud on programs under the CARES Act that they will be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation special agents are still opening cases and investigating those who stole funds that were intended for American workers, families, and small businesses.”
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