{"id":509,"date":"2026-05-14T10:04:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509"},"modified":"2026-05-14T10:04:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:04:56","slug":"tax-preparer-sentenced-for-600-million-covid-era-tax-fraud-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509","title":{"rendered":"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

An Internal Revenue Service 1040 Individual income tax form for 2021 arranged in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Photographer: Luke Sharrett\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>

Read more PA sex offender arrested in Florida, found living in makeshift hut in the woods<\/a><\/p>

Expand<\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>

A New York woman is headed to prison for her role in a COVID-era tax scheme that sought to bilk the U.S. government out of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits that were meant to help businesses weather the pandemic.<\/p>

Big picture view:<\/p>

A federal judge sentenced Tiffany Williams, 43, to three years in prison after she was convicted on a single count of wire fraud for her role in the plot, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Senate confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chairman<\/a><\/p>

<\/div>

The backstory:<\/p>

The Justice Department explained that the New York woman and other individuals involved in the plan filed bogus tax returns between November 2021 and June 2023 that sought refunds from the U.S. government based on the employee retention tax credit as well as the paid sick and family leave credit.\u00a0<\/p>

By the numbers:<\/p>

The federal government alleged they ended up filing more than 8,000 fraudulent tax returns that sought to collect over $600 million in tax credits for them and their clients. According to its estimate, the ruse ended up costing the U.S. approximately $45 million.<\/p>

Read more FWC investigating after hundreds of dead fish found in Lakeland\u2019s Lake Hollingsworth<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A New York woman is headed to prison for her role in a COVID-era tax scheme that sought to bilk the U.S. government out of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits that were meant to help businesses weather the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166,6],"tags":[167,8],"class_list":["post-509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-crime-and-public-safety","tag-coronavirus","tag-crime-and-public-safety"],"yoast_head":"\nTax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme - Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A New York woman is headed to prison for her role in a COVID-era tax scheme that sought to bilk the U.S. government out of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits that were meant to help businesses weather the pandemic.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T10:04:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e127dadf6d36576424bc8654872dd767.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"764\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"headline\":\"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T10:04:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509\"},\"wordCount\":254,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/cd4414ccd36f9c5d9c92db53df6979c5.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Coronavirus\",\"Crime and Public Safety\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Coronavirus\",\"Crime and Public Safety\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509\",\"name\":\"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme - Tampa moving journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/cd4414ccd36f9c5d9c92db53df6979c5.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T10:04:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/cd4414ccd36f9c5d9c92db53df6979c5.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/cd4414ccd36f9c5d9c92db53df6979c5.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=509#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tampa moving journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme - Tampa moving journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme - Tampa moving journal","og_description":"A New York woman is headed to prison for her role in a COVID-era tax scheme that sought to bilk the U.S. government out of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits that were meant to help businesses weather the pandemic.","og_url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509","og_site_name":"Tampa moving journal","article_published_time":"2026-05-14T10:04:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":764,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e127dadf6d36576424bc8654872dd767.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"headline":"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme","datePublished":"2026-05-14T10:04:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509"},"wordCount":254,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cd4414ccd36f9c5d9c92db53df6979c5.webp","keywords":["Coronavirus","Crime and Public Safety"],"articleSection":["Coronavirus","Crime and Public Safety"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509","name":"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme - Tampa moving journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cd4414ccd36f9c5d9c92db53df6979c5.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-14T10:04:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cd4414ccd36f9c5d9c92db53df6979c5.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cd4414ccd36f9c5d9c92db53df6979c5.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=509#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tax preparer sentenced for $600 million COVID-era tax fraud scheme"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/","name":"Tampa moving journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}