A St. Louis woman has been charged with fraudulently obtaining $177,000 in pandemic-era tax refunds. Ayana J. Brown, 33, was indicted on February 20 on two felony counts of theft of government property. She surrendered to authorities and pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
According to the indictment, Brown filed two fraudulent quarterly employment tax returns (IRS Form 941s) with the IRS on December 22, 2022, for Yaya Flowtiques LLC. The indictment states that she falsely claimed the company had five employees and reported wages of approximately $177,321 for the first quarter of 2021 and $145,098 for the second quarter. However, it is alleged that Yaya Flowtiques had no employees during this period. Brown is accused of fraudulently claiming credits under the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) program, resulting in two U.S. Treasury checks totaling $177,000 being sent to her.
The ERC was established to encourage businesses to retain employees during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing a tax credit if they were shut down by a government order or experienced a significant decline in gross receipts.
Each charge of theft of government property carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
It is important to note that charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting.