Brooklyn Woman Sentenced in $600 Million Covid Tax Credit Scheme

A Brooklyn tax preparer was sentenced on Friday to 36 months in prison for her role in a fraud scheme that fraudulently claimed more than $600 million in COVID-19-related employment tax credits.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Tiffany Williams, 43, of Brooklyn, conspired with others to file tax returns seeking fraudulent refunds based on the employee retention credit and paid sick and family leave credit, credits passed by Congress to aid struggling businesses during the COVID-19 global pandemic. From November 2021 to June 2023, Williams and her co-conspirators filed more than 8,000 false tax returns seeking COVID-19 related tax credits.

In total, Tiffany Williams and her co-conspirators sought more than $600 million in credits they and their clients were not entitled to receive, which caused a loss to the United States of approximately $45 million.

Williams previously pleaded to one count of wire fraud.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. for the Eastern District of New York made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Richard J. Kelley of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Toporovsky and James Simmons of the Eastern District of New York prosecuted the case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”).  The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people.  The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

Courtesy: justice.gov