Federal authorities announced on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, that seven people have been charged in a $600 million COVID-19 tax credit fraud scheme, the largest of its kind in U.S. history, uncovered in Central Islip, New York.

Keith Williams, Jamari Lewis, Morais Dicks, Janine Davis, Tiffany Williams, James Hames Jr., and Ewendra Mathurin, all current or former New York residents, are accused of filing over 8,000 fraudulent tax returns between November 2021 and June 2023. The defendants allegedly exploited the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and paid sick and family leave credit (SFLC), federal programs designed to help businesses retain employees during the pandemic, according to the indictment.

The scheme was allegedly operated out of Credit Reset, a credit repair business owned by Keith Williams. Acting as tax preparers, the defendants are accused of inflating claims, falsifying wage data, and duplicating credit claims. The IRS reportedly paid approximately $45 million in fraudulent refunds before identifying discrepancies.

Prosecutors said the group profited by charging clients fees or taking a percentage of the refunds. For clients without legitimate businesses, the defendants allegedly sold shell companies to fabricate eligibility. Investigators said they used VPNs to hide their IP addresses and omitted their names from tax filings to avoid detection.