North Carolina Tax Preparer Chowan Watson Pleads Guilty in $3.9 Million Tax Fraud Scheme in Rocky Mount
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced on October 28 that Chowan Watson, 55, of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, resulting in a tax loss of approximately $3.9 million. Watson faces a maximum penalty of 36 months in federal prison when sentenced later this year and has agreed to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Watson and Angela Dickens, who previously pleaded guilty, operated Empire Tax Service, later renamed K&J Tax Service, in Rocky Mount. From 2017 to 2023, the two fraudulently filed hundreds of tax returns by inflating the 'Other 1099 Withholding' amounts, which inflated taxpayer refunds and allowed them to take excessive fees from those refunds. Total tax losses are approximately $3.9 million.
U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said Watson and Dickens preyed on the trust of hardworking Eastern North Carolinian taxpayers and turned a legitimate tax preparation service into a personal profit machine, adding that cheaters never win. Donald 'Trey' Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's Charlotte Field Office, said IRS-CI follows the money to uncover fraudulent schemes and will continue working with the U.S. Attorney's Office to bring offenders to justice.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted the plea. The case, No. 5:26-CR-125-M, was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿特区宪法大道的美国国税局（IRS）总部大楼（资料图）。本案由国税局刑事调查局调查。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons（IRS Building Constitution Avenue.jpg）。 / Photo: The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. (file photo). The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
