Pleads Guilty, Employment Tax Fraud Scheme, Share Facebook — Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Employment Tax Fraud Scheme | United States Justice Department.
He carries a maximum potential punishment of 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud, a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison for each count of mail fraud, and a maximum punishment of 3 years in prison for each count of aiding and assisting in the filing of a false tax return. Zanes and co-conspirators created phony businesses, which lacked any employees or operations, for the sole purpose of claiming the bogus credits. Attorney Mac Heavener for the Eastern District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case. announcement
Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Employment Tax Fraud alleged scheme Friday, September 12, 2025 Share Facebook X LinkedIn Email For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Defendant Conspired to Claim Around $3.4M in Fraudulent Refunds A Tennessee man entered a guilty plea on Wednesday to tax crimes and wire fraud for his role in a alleged scheme to claim fraudulent refunds based on false COVID-19 employment tax credits.The following is court filings state and statements made in court: Edward Zanes, of Kingsport, Tennessee, conspired with others to file false tax returns
seeking fraudulent refunds based on the employee retention credit and paid sick and family leave credit, both of which were created by Congress to aid struggling businesses during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Cobb of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. A federal district court judge will determine any prison term after considering the U.S. 7, 2026. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case.Trial Attorney Zachary A. Zanes aided in filing numerous false tax returns for those phony businesses and directed the tax returns to be