A former tax preparer from Mansfield has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison for his involvement in tax and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud schemes. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Chad E. Meacham.
Festus Adenisimi, aged 65, admitted guilt in September 2024 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. On March 6, 2025, U.S. Senior District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn sentenced him to 57 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $10,283,737.65 in restitution.
Court documents reveal that Adenisimi owned a tax preparation business named FA Tax where he and other preparers filed fraudulent tax returns on behalf of clients, leading the IRS to issue refunds based on false information. Adenisimi also confessed to submitting falsified personal tax returns.
As part of his plea agreement, Adenisimi acknowledged securing two PPP loans amounting to $760,415 through fraudulent means under the Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 relief program. The court mandated restitution payments for both the tax fraud and PPP loan fraud offenses.
The investigation was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Basu.