A 58-year-old Manchester Square man pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud after admitting he used two paper-only companies to siphon more than $9.33 million from the IRS through fake COVID-19 sick-leave tax credits. Darrick Wynell Brazier entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles, closing out a scheme that prosecutors say sought nearly $11.51 million in fraudulent refunds before the government caught on.
A Scheme Built on Employees Who Never Existed
According to 2urbangirls.com, Brazier used tax-filing software between July 2022 and December 2023 to submit fraudulent IRS forms requesting business tax credits. The filings were made in the names of DWB Holdings LLC and Brazier Transportation, two entities held in his own name that, as detailed in the original report from MyNewsLA.com, existed only on paper.
Those companies filed claims for refunds of the sick-leave credit based on wages they never actually paid, because the employees listed on the forms never existed in the first place. Brazier was listed as the signer on the returns, and the IRS mailed U.S. Treasury checks to him on behalf of the shell companies, per the same account.
Kickbacks From Clients Who Wanted In
Brazier's fraud didn't stop with his own companies. The report notes he also assisted fraudulent tax filings for at least six ineligible client businesses, collecting $1,096,096 in kickbacks from clients whose fraudulent claims succeeded. Those kickbacks arrived by way of cashier's checks made out to himself, his businesses, or other nominees he directed the payments to.
Brazier further admitted he never reported any of that unlawful income to the IRS, compounding the original fraud with a failure to disclose the proceeds. Altogether, the scheme sought nearly $11.51 million in fraudulent tax refunds from the IRS, of which the agency ultimately paid out more than $9.33 million before the fraud was uncovered.
Sentencing Set for Early 2027
U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald scheduled Brazier's sentencing hearing for February 24, 2027. Prosecutors say Brazier faces up to 20 years in federal prison when that hearing arrives, though no sentence has been determined yet.
Brazier's case fits into a wider pattern of pandemic-era tax fraud that federal authorities have been unwinding for years. The COVID-19 relief legislation created an employee retention credit specifically designed to encourage businesses to keep workers on payroll during the pandemic, according to the Internal Revenue Service — a program that fraudsters nationwide have repeatedly exploited with fake businesses and phantom workers.
Other cases show the scale of that exploitation. A separate scheme involving 11 sham businesses claimed over $3.4 million in refunds, of which the IRS paid $1.8 million, the agency says, while the U.S. Department of Justice has announced a nationwide series of enforcement actions targeting tax fraud more broadly. In January, a Long Island tax preparer pleaded guilty to a nearly $12 million tax-fraud scheme, and in September, an Illinois woman was sentenced to 13 months in prison for a similar COVID-19 tax-credit fraud conspiracy, according to the department.
