A Tennessee woman, Aylissa Glidewell, has admitted to defrauding the IRS by claiming false COVID-19 employment tax credits. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the 35-year-old from Kingsport entered her plea before United States District Judge Clifton L. Corker on March 12, acknowledging her involvement in a scheme to file fraudulent tax returns.
Glidewell is now set to quickly face sentencing on July 9, where she could receive up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. The scheme involved creating fake businesses with nonexistent employees to maliciously claim tax credits to support businesses hurting from the pandemic. With fraudulent returns totaling more than $3.4 million, the IRS issued approximately $1.8 million in refunds connected to these claims.
The employment tax credits, such as the employee retention credit (ERC) and paid sick and family leave credit, were originally designed as lifelines provided by Congress for businesses struggling during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, Glidewell and her co-conspirators exploited these programs, generating numerous false tax returns for these fabricated businesses and channeling the refunds to addresses under their control.
Returns involving millions signify the level at which the fraud was perpetrated. The Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Karen E. Kelly, and U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III for the Eastern District of Tennessee disclosed the guilty plea. The IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service led the investigation. At the same time, the case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Zachary A. Cobb of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac D. Heavener of the Eastern District of Tennessee.
