A tax preparer in Georgia was sentenced to eight years in prison over phony tax returns connected to a pandemic unemployment fraud.
Jessica Crawford pleaded guilty in November 2024 to wire fraud and aiding in the preparation of false tax returns. Her case is part of a multi-state federal investigation into false Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims.
According to Fox 5, Crawford filed false PUA claims for clients using forged information or fake businesses. Crawford would then receive a payout for her unusual services.
The FBI began uncovering Crawford’s involvement in the scheme through her text messages with willing clients. Catching onto her scheme, an undercover IRS criminal investigation agent met with Crawford in April 2022. The meeting revealed that Crawford helped set up a fake landscaping business for the agent. Filing a Schedule C loss of $19,373, the tax preparer’s claim then resulted in a refund of over $12,000.
The 34-year-old not only falsified the business loss but also created improper claims for child tax and earned income tax credits. The IRS later discovered that Crawford filed false credits in over 1,200 tax returns during the years 2020 and 2021. Her efforts led to more than $3 million in fraudulent claims.
“Jessica Crawford used her position as a tax preparer to defraud the U.S. government through a CARES Act program intended for those unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Lisa Fontanette, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Atlanta Field Office. “The sentencing Crawford received should serve notice to unscrupulous tax preparers.”
The Department of Justice continues to uncover multiple cases of PUA fraud, as the program was meant to alleviate struggling self-employed individuals and others during the COVID-19 pandemic. A report by the U.S. Department of Labor also estimated that PUA funds had a 35.9% improper payment rate, signifying that over one-third of all PUA claims had fraudulent information or wrongful payouts.
Now, the U.S. government hopes to bring those who wrongly filed, as well as their accomplices, to justice for rigging the system.
“Federal law enforcement uncovered a large-scale tax return scheme during the pandemic that was costing taxpayers while benefiting fraudsters,” said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker. “Alongside our law enforcement partners, federal prosecutors will continue to uphold the law and pursue justice in these cases.”
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