A St. Louis woman has found herself at the center of serious legal trouble, accused of defrauding the government out of $177,000 by exploiting pandemic-era tax credits. According to a recent indictment, 33-year-old Ayana J. Brown stands charged with two felony counts of theft of government property related to false claims made under the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) program. The indictment was handed down on February 20, and yesterday, Brown turned herself in, pleading not guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
The case details allege that Brown falsely reported on two quarterly employment tax returns filed on December 22, 2022, that her company, Yaya Flowtiques LLC, had five employees and paid significant wages in the first two quarters of 2021. Turned in to the IRS, these forms garnered two U.S. Treasury checks totaling $177,000, sent fraudulently to Brown's address. This was despite Yaya Flowtiques not having any employees during that period, according to the indictment.
The ERC aimed to incentivize businesses to keep workers on the payroll during the hard economic times brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. To qualify for the credit, businesses had to either be impacted by a shutdown order, experience a sharp decline in gross receipts, or be a recovery startup business that met certain conditions, one of which being the payment of qualified wages.
These allegations carry severe potential penalties, with each count of theft of government property being punishable by a hefty fine or a prison sentence, or both. Specifically, a convict could face up to 10 years in prison, or a $250,000 fine, or both, as documented by the indictment laid out by U.S. prosecutors. However, it's important to remember that "charges set forth in an indictment are merely an accusation and does not constitute proof of guilt." As such, every defendant, like Brown, is "presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty," reminded the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) led the investigation into Brown's case. U.S. Assistant Attorney Jonathan Clow is tasked with prosecuting, according to the information revealed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
