Two tax executives have been charged with defrauding the federal government of $65 million in coronavirus relief funds, according to federal prosecutors in Tennessee.
Renata Walton, 44, and Nicole Jones, 36, were recently indicted on more than 50 charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, filing false tax returns and obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Memphis. announced this week in a news release.
Walton was charged separately with filing false Paycheck Protection and Disaster Loan applications with the Small Business Administration, the office said.
Both women pleaded not guilty Monday and were released on $100,000 bail. Court documents do not name their attorneys.
Walton owned and operated R&B Tax Express in Moscow, Tennessee, where she and Jones “falsified numbers provided to the IRS on personal and business tax returns from 2020 to 2024.” It is said that
Prosecutors said Mr. Walton and Mr. Jones, both from Olive Branch, Mississippi, claimed tax credits for their customers under the Employee Retention Credit and the Sick and Family Leave Credit, which their customers were not entitled to. said.
But prosecutors say the clients received six-figure tax refunds and repaid Mr. Walton and Mr. Jones for large fees the two women laundered through local banks.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not disclosed how much its clients paid Walton and Jones.
The Employee Retention Credit is a refundable tax credit for certain eligible businesses and organizations that have employees and have been affected by the pandemic. The sick and family leave credit provides employers with a tax credit on wages paid for time off taken by workers who need to recover from an injury, disability, illness, or vaccination-related condition. I did.
If convicted, Mr. Walton and Mr. Jones face up to 20 years on each count of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 10 years on each count of money laundering, and 10 years on each count of preparing a false tax return. He was sentenced to three years in prison, and one year for each charge. Regarding failure to file tax returns. Walton was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the only obstruction of justice charge, prosecutors said.
The Associated Press contributed.
