Texas Man Indicted for Conspiring to Defraud the United States Out of $6.9 Million in Tax Credits
WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas indicted Austin resident John Labee on September 15, charging him with conspiring to defraud the United States through false tax refund claims, the Justice Department announced. From about October 2021 through July 2022, Labee and Andrea Dotson allegedly agreed to prepare and file false returns for Dotson's business, Divine Grinde, which had minimal operations and no employees.
The nine false returns allegedly claimed the Employee Retention Credit and the Sick and Family Leave Credit — pandemic relief credits created by Congress — using completely fabricated wage and tax figures. The fraudulent claims sought about $6.9 million in refunds, of which the IRS paid out more than $1.1 million; Dotson kept a portion and allegedly gave the rest to Labee. Dotson pleaded guilty on March 10, 2026, for her role in the scheme.
Labee faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for conspiring to file false claims and five years for each count of filing false claims, if convicted. IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case, which was announced by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons. An indictment is an allegation, and Labee is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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