Indictment: $81 million in fraudulent tax refunds issued in Mobile-area scheme
MOBILE, Ala. (NBC 15) — Six people, including former Blount High School and University of Alabama basketball player Kennedy Lawrence Stovall Winston, are accused of taking part in a tax fraud scheme that led the IRS to issue about $81 million in refunds, according to federal prosecutors.
An indictment alleges the group filed more than 9,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $177 million in refunds. About $81 million was issued. Those figures describe the alleged scheme as a whole; prosecutors do not say Winston personally received that amount.
The Justice Department says Jennifer Beverly, 47, of Mobile owned and operated JB Accounting Tax Service LLC. The other defendants, who worked as tax preparers, are Winston, 42; Jadasha Bowman, 28; Solida Lucille Green, 36; Paris Lovett, also known as Paris Johnson, 30; and Shermeka Benjamin, 38.
Prosecutors allege the defendants prepared and filed returns with false information, including claims for business expenses, COVID-related credits, fuel tax credits, estimated tax payments and education credits. The indictment says some returns reported businesses clients did not own or operate and claimed credits for work interruptions clients allegedly did not experience.
Winston is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. The five returns identified in those counts allegedly claimed false fuel tax credits and sought about $101,896 in refunds combined.
The Justice Department says all six defendants face the conspiracy charge. The number of wire fraud counts varies by defendant: Beverly faces 63; Bowman, Green and Lovett each face 11; Winston faces five; and Benjamin faces four. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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