A Nevada business owner was sentenced on April 7 to 54 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by fraudulently claiming nearly $100 million in COVID-19 related employment tax credits.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by federal authorities to address large-scale fraud targeting pandemic relief programs. According to the Department of Justice, Candies Goode-McCoy, formerly of Las Vegas, conspired with others from June 2022 through September 2023 to file more than 1,200 fraudulent tax returns for her businesses and those of others. These returns falsely claimed employee retention credits and paid sick and family leave credits that Congress had created during the pandemic.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the Department, working closely with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, is supercharging efforts to take down every fraudster and bring them to justice. In one day, the Department prosecuted the theft of a half-billion in taxpayer dollars. All those ripping off the American people are on notice.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada said, “Rooting out fraud is a priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. We will not tolerate wrongdoers who commit fraud schemes that siphon taxpayer dollars to fund lavish lifestyles at the expense of American taxpayers. We are coordinating with IRS Criminal Investigation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to stop bad actors and hold them fully accountable.”
According to court documents presented during sentencing proceedings in Las Vegas federal court, Goode-McCoy’s scheme resulted in approximately $33 million being paid out by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). She personally received over $1.3 million in fraudulent refunds as well as about $800,000 from clients for filing false returns; these funds were used on vacations, luxury cars and goods, as well as gambling at casinos.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Jarom Gregory of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Phoenix Field Office said: “This sentencing brings to an end one of the biggest COVID fraud cases our agency has seen… To attempt to steal almost $100M from American taxpayers by exploiting this program is staggering… But IRS Criminal Investigators are experts at following money… we will continue … bringing justice…”
Goode-McCoy was ordered by a judge also pay over $26 million in restitution.
The Justice Department serves as the principal federal agency for law enforcement with operations throughout all states and more than 50 countries worldwide according its official website. The department employs over 115,000 people internationally as noted online under leadership including Garland who became its 86th attorney general after his swearing-in on March 11th ,2021 according official records. Garland has overseen major prosecutions such as those related Oklahoma City bombing as per department history.
Officials say upholding rule-of-law remains central focus alongside safeguarding civil rights nationwide according agency details.
