North Carolina Tax Preparer Sentenced to 5 Years for Nearly $24 Million COVID Tax Credit Fraud; $13.89 Million Forfeiture Ordered
WILMINGTON, N.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice announced on November 9 that Nejlai Mitchell, 48, a North Carolina tax return preparation business owner, was sentenced to five years in federal prison for conspiring to prepare false tax returns claiming fraudulent refunds based on COVID-19 tax credits, and for assisting in the preparation of additional fake returns. The court also ordered her to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $13,890,697. Prosecutors said the scheme generated almost $24 million in fraudulent refunds in total; seven co-conspirators have pleaded guilty and five have already been sentenced.
According to the Justice Department, Mitchell owned and operated tax return preparation offices in Lumberton and Hope Mills. From April 2022 through May 2023, Mitchell and seven of her employees filed false tax returns seeking fraudulent refunds of almost $24 million by exploiting paid sick and family leave credits, a COVID-19 relief measure enacted by Congress to support struggling businesses. Mitchell's actions alone caused the IRS to issue approximately $13,890,697 in fraudulent tax refunds, more than half of the nearly $24 million channeled through the conspiracy.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to preparing and filing false tax returns. The business's office manager, Whitnee Leach, pleaded guilty in May 2026, and the remaining six defendants pleaded guilty to preparing and filing false tax returns for clients.
Five other co-conspirators have already received federal prison sentences: Tiffany Moody was sentenced on September 3, 2026, to over two years; Shaneen Ray and Eyoubo McBurney were each sentenced on July 8 to 18 months; Sylvia Swindell was sentenced to 16 months; and Katrena Stanback was sentenced on July 9 to six months.
U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle for the Eastern District of North Carolina said the nearly $24 million in fraudulent refunds were not the result of mistakes or oversight, and that Mitchell and her co-conspirators deliberately stole COVID money intended to help struggling Eastern North Carolinians. Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II handed down the sentence. IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case, No. 7:26-CR-38-M.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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