The federal government has filed a lawsuit against a Longview tax preparation business that says its preparers falsely claimed more than $53 million in credits and refunds intended for COVID-19 relief.
The Justice Department on Tuesday filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Elite Tax Solutions at 2012 S. High St. The injunction seeks to permanently bar owner Jason Elias Briley and seven other tax preparers — Derek Brooks, Roxann Ladawn Johnson, Courtney Jones, Erbia Lewis, Alexander McKenzie, Deanna McKenzie and Patrick McKenzie — from preparing federal income tax returns for other people.
A 60-page complaint filed in the case details the methods the government claims that Briley and the seven others used to falsely claim credits and refunds, and it requests that the court require them to return to the federal government “the ill-gotten gains that they received in the form of tax preparation fees or otherwise for preparing federal tax returns making false claims …”
A statement released Tuesday by the Justice Department says the government claims Briley and the others prepared more than 1,300 returns in 2021 and more than 3,100 this year.
“According to the complaint, Briley and the others prepared returns that falsely claimed over $53 million in credits and refunds intended to provide COVID-19 related relief for self-employed individuals,” the statement said.
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