Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Louis, Missouri has been accused of fraudulently obtaining $177,000 in pandemic-era tax refunds.
Ayana J. Brown, 33, was indicted February 20 on two felony counts of theft of government property. She turned herself in Monday and pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
The indictment says that on Dec. 22, 2022, Brown filed two fraudulent quarterly employment tax returns (IRS Form 941s) with the IRS on behalf of Yaya Flowtiques LLC. Brown falsely claimed the company had five employees and paid approximately $177,321 in wages for the first quarter of 2021 and $145,098 in wages for the second quarter, the indictment says. In fact, Yaya Flowtiques had no employees during this time, the indictment says. Brown fraudulently claimed credits under the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) program, resulting in two U.S. Treasury checks totaling $177,000 in refunds that were mailed to Brown, the indictment says.
The ERC was a tax credit designed to encourage businesses to retain employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Generally, businesses qualified for the ERC if they were shut down by a government order, experienced a 50% decline in gross receipts or qualified as a recovery startup business and if they paid qualified wages to employees during the pandemic.
Each theft of government property charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and fine
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely an accusation and does not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.