Tax preparer pleads guilty to $2.3M fraud scheme involving pandemic relief assistance

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. 

Both the FBI Detroit Field Office and Amtrak's Office of Inspector General worked on the investigation, as some of the clients recruited into the scheme were Amtrak employees, the district attorney's office said. 

Jawan Simpson, 37, entered his plea on Tuesday in federal court. He faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced. 

"Jawan Simpson abused the trust placed in him as a tax preparer to defraud the American people of more than $2 million," said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. 

According to the plea agreement, Simpson had promised family members, friends and tax preparation clients that he could help them qualify for pandemic relief loans. He took on those cases in exchange for a fee of $2,000 to $3,000, the district attorney's office said.  

Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program in March 2020 to provide emergency assistance to businesses that faced financial challenges at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible businesses could apply for loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, and additional requirements applied to those seeking to have the loans forgiven at a later date. 

Simpson eventually filed 111 PPP loan applications "that contained materially false information" that included fake tax returns, federal authorities said. The fraud added up to more than $2.3 million in government funds.