A tax preparer and certified public accountant pleaded guilty to a $2.3 million scheme that included helping clients qualify fraudulently for pandemic relief loans, the U.S. District Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan said.
The FBI Detroit Field Office and Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General collaborated on the investigation, as some of the customers lured into the scheme were Amtrak workers, according to the district attorney’s office.
Jawan Simpson, 37, entered a plea on Tuesday in federal court. If convicted, he may serve up to 20 years in prison.
Jawan Simpson exploited the confidence placed in him as a tax preparer to cheat the American people of more than $2 million, according to U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr.
According to the guilty deal, Simpson assured family members, friends, and tax preparation clients that he could assist them get hardship relief loans. He accepted those cases for a fee ranging from $2,000 to $3,000, according to the district attorney’s office.
Congress established the Paycheck Protection Program in March 2020 to provide emergency aid to businesses that suffered financial difficulties at the time of the COVID-19 epidemic. Eligible enterprises might apply for Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans, with extra restrictions for those seeking loan forgiveness at a later date.
Simpson finally filed 111 PPP loan applications using “materially false information,” including bogus tax records, according to federal prosecutors. The fraud totaled more than $2.3 million in federal funding.
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