Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
An indictment was unsealed on Monday charging a Maryland man with COVID-19 relief fraud, not filing a tax return and not paying all required employment taxes.
According to the indictment, Vince Akins, of Ellicott City, allegedly owned and operated several transportation companies that serviced different federal agencies. Eventually all but one of those companies stopped operating. Nevertheless, Akins was allegedly responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from his employees’ wages and paying those funds over to the IRS each quarter. Between 2019 and 2022, however, Akins allegedly did not pay to the IRS the full amount of the taxes withheld.
In addition, in 2020, he allegedly filed four Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications using false IRS documents on behalf of his then-defunct companies. He received $387,220 in fraudulent PPP loans, which were later forgiven. When he obtained the loan proceeds, he laundered approximately $151,000 of it by transferring it to two personal bank accounts in Nigeria. Further, Akins allegedly did not file a personal return for 2020 despite being required by law to do so.
Akins was charged with bank fraud, money laundering, employment tax violations and failure to file a tax return. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for each bank fraud charge, a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each money laundering charge, a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each employment tax charge and a maximum penalty of one year in prison for the failure to file a return charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Shawn Noud and Joseph D. G. Castro of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.