NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A former Brooklyn man who ran an elaborate IRS tax return scheme and falsely claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-relief funds pleaded guilty Tuesday to the scams, United States District Attorney Breon Peace announced.
Most recently a Georgia resident, Patrick Poux used the pandemic as a get-rich-quick scheme, applying for paycheck protection and economic injury disaster loans and grants totaling over $320,000 for himself and corporate entities he controlled, officials said.
Poux received about $183,000 in COVID-relief funds which he was not entitled to. He used the money for elaborate personal expenses like a life coach and a Saks Fifth Avenue shopping spree, authorities said.
Before stealing relief money, Poux operated an IRS scam, creating fake W-2s between 2016 and 2019. Using shell companies, Poux would provide people with W-2s which claimed they worked for and earned an income with the fake businesses. The bogus employees would file tax returns using the manipulated W-2s and give Poux a portion, the district attorney said.
Poux and others submitted about 250 claims seeking a total of roughly $2.8 million in tax refunds from the IRS, court documents show.
“It was money not well earned, or well spent. The defendant admitted to preparing and filing false applications for millions of dollars’ worth of COVID-19 disaster relief funds and tax refunds and then spending that money on a life coach and luxury goods,” said Peace. “This Office will vigorously prosecute individuals who steal taxpayer dollars, especially from critically important government programs designed to help struggling small businesses and families stay afloat during the pandemic.”
Poux faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million when he is sentenced.
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