Lehigh County Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to $1M Bogus Pandemic Loan Scheme and False Tax Returns
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced on October 27, 2026, that Mayerlyn Cordero, 48, of Allentown, in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. to five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to file false claims in a scheme to defraud pandemic relief programs and the Internal Revenue Service.
Cordero ran the tax preparation business May Tax. Prosecutors said she electronically filed two fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications and a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application for May Tax with inflated employee numbers and a false tax document, and was also responsible for false PPP applications for R&P Trucking and KS Transport. In total, about 13 false PPP and EIDL applications brought in roughly $1,009,050 in funded loans. She also filed 23 fraudulent tax returns using stolen personally identifiable information provided by a co-conspirator. Both loan programs were created under the CARES Act of March 2020.
Cordero was charged by indictment in February 2026. Sentencing is scheduled for February 3, 2027. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; the conspiracy count carries up to 10 years. The case was investigated by the FBI's Allentown Resident Agency, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General. U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced the plea; Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Chandler Harris is prosecuting.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Ajay Suresh 摄，CC BY 2.0
