According to the United States Department of Justice, Christopher Johnson, from Orlando, Florida, and Jasen Harvey, from Tampa, Florida, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government through a tax fraud scheme known as the “Note Program.” The scheme involved promoting fraudulent tax returns that claimed significant, non-existent withholdings, leading to the issuance of large refunds. Between 2015 and 2018, Johnson and Harvey conspired to prepare and file these fraudulent returns, collecting over $3 million in illegitimate refunds, of which approximately $1.5 million was paid out by the IRS.
Grimes took part in the scheme by causing four false income tax returns prepared by Harvey to be filed. When the IRS tried to recover a refund issued to Grimes based on one of these returns, he made false statements, submitted fake documents to an IRS revenue officer, and moved funds to a nominee bank account.
In 2016, Johnson received over $200,000 and in 2017, more than $100,000 as his share of the scheme’s proceeds. He filed false tax returns for those years, failing to report this income, which led to a tax loss of $78,259.
A sentencing hearing for Johnson and Harvey will be scheduled later. Each faces a maximum of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge.
Grimes is set to be sentenced on November 12, facing a maximum of three years in prison for the tax obstruction charge.
All three defendants are also subject to supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine their sentences after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The announcement was made by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation.
Trial Attorneys Melissa Siskind, Jeffrey McLellan, and Caroline Pearson of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Hu for the Middle District of Florida, are handling the prosecution.
