South Los Angeles Man Pleads Guilty: More Than $9.3 Million in Bogus COVID-19 Tax Credits Claimed Through Shell Companies
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced that Darrick Wynell Brazier, 58, of Manchester Square in South Los Angeles, pleaded guilty on October 21 to one count of mail fraud, admitting he fraudulently obtained more than $9.3 million through shell companies under a COVID-19 relief program that provided refundable employment tax credits for paid sick and family leave.
According to his plea agreement, from July 2022 to December 2023 Brazier used tax-filing software to submit fraudulent Forms 941 to the IRS for two entities held in his name, DWB Holdings LLC and Brazier Transportation, claiming credits for sick-leave wages the entities never paid to employees who never existed. The IRS relied on those filings to mail Treasury checks to the shell companies. Brazier also admitted assisting at least six ineligible client businesses with fraudulent filings in exchange for kickbacks, receiving $1,096,096 in kickbacks, and never reporting any of the unlawful income to the IRS.
In total, the filings for his two businesses and the six client businesses sought approximately $11,514,618 in fraudulent refunds, of which the IRS paid approximately $9,336,130. IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Haoxiaohan H. Cai is prosecuting it. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald scheduled sentencing for February 24, 2027, at which Brazier will face a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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