A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty Friday to a federal felony charge, admitting he sought more than $65 million from the Internal Revenue Service by falsely claiming that his nonexistent farming business was entitled to COVID-19-related tax credits.
Kevin J. Gregory, 57, pleaded guilty in LA federal court to one count of making false claims to the IRS, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to his plea agreement, from November 2020 to April 2022, Gregory made false claims to the IRS for the payment of nearly $65.4 million in tax refunds for a purported Beverly Hills-based farming-and-transportation company named Elijah USA Farm Holdings.
The IRS issued a portion of the refunds Gregory claimed, and the defendant used that portion — more than $2.7 million — for personal expenses, he admitted.
In January 2022, Gregory made a false claim to the IRS for the payment of a tax refund in the amount of $23.87 million, which he submitted as part of Elijah Farm’s quarterly federal tax return. Gregory claimed Elijah Farm employed 33 people, paid nearly $1.6 million in quarterly wages, had deposited nearly $18 million in federal taxes and was entitled to nearly $6.5 million in COVID-relief tax credits, federal prosecutors said.
In fact, Gregory knew that Elijah Farm employed nobody and paid wages to no one and had not made federal tax deposits to the IRS in the amounts stated on his tax return.
U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a May 16 sentencing hearing, at...
A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty Friday to a federal felony charge, admitting he sought more than $65 million from the Internal Revenue Service by falsely claiming that his nonexistent farming busi...