A Hollywood man's grand scheme to rake in millions from the IRS using COVID tax breaks has landed him a 57-month vacation in federal prison, along with a significant bill for restitution. Kevin J. Gregory, the 57-year-old scammer, claimed his non-existent Beverly Hills-based farm business entitled him to copious pandemic relief funds, specifically, north of $65 million in tax credits that he had no right to.
He pleaded guilty on January 17 to a single count of making false claims to the IRS, culminating in today's sentence by the U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton. In addition to his prison term, Gregory has been ordered to pay back $2,769,173, essentially the amount he managed to wrongly squeeze out from the government's coffers. According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gregory has been in custody since May 2023, his wrongdoing stretching from November 2020 to April 2022.
The employee retention credit and paid sick and family leave credit were measures introduced by Congress to cushion small businesses against the financial onslaught of the pandemic. These were critical aids meant to uphold businesses genuinely struggling amidst government measures to combat the spread of COVID-19. Nevertheless, Gregory submitted bogus claims, including the eye-watering $23,877,620 tax refund he filed for in January 2022, abusing these programs designed for desperate times.
Gregory's fictional payroll claimed to support 33 employees, while in truth, his "farming-and-transportation" company, deceitfully named Elijah USA Farm Holdings, was void of any hired hand to the land or steering wheel. This farce was unraveled by IRS Criminal Investigation, ensuring that fraudsters like Gregory can't easily keep getting away with such audacious thefts.
The crackdown on pandemic-related fraud is a part of a larger enforcement task force established by the Attorney General on May 17, 2021. This task force, dubbed the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, marshals resources across various agencies, intensifying efforts to bring those taking advantage of the pandemic-induced crisis to justice. This conviction of Gregory thus stands as a testament to the government's rigorous approaches to safeguard relief programs from being compromised by fraudulent activities.
