HUFFPOST
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two tax preparers submitted $65 million in false claims for refunds under programs designed to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, federal prosecutors in Tennessee said Wednesday.
A federal grand jury indicted Renata Walton, 44, and Nicole Jones, 36, on more than 50 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, preparing false tax returns and obstruction of justice, the U.S. attorney’s office in Memphis said in a news release.
Walton and Jones, of Olive Branch, Mississippi, pleaded not guilty on Monday and were each released on $100,000 bond. Court records do not list lawyers for them, and their tax preparation business is closed “for the season,” according to a phone message at the number for R&B Tax Express in Moscow, Tennessee.
Prosecutors said Walton and Jones filed for tax credits for their clients under the Employee Retention Credit and the Sick and Family Leave Credit, but their clients were not entitled to them. The clients received…
