Two Philadelphia Tax Preparers and Seven “Clients” Plead Guilty in COVID-19 Tax Credit Schemes

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that two area tax preparers have entered pleas of guilty before United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky in connection with pandemic tax credit schemes.

Latisha Dudley, 51, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on Friday to helping to prepare false tax returns for clients, mail fraud, and theft of government funds, arising from her role in a scheme to fraudulently claim approximately $86 million in COVID-19 related tax credits.

Timeeka Loud, 47, also of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the same charges, for her role in a scheme to fraudulently claim approximately $23 million in COVID-19 related tax credits.

Between May and October of this year, seven additional defendants who worked with Dudley or Loud pleaded guilty to mail fraud and theft of government funds for their involvement in the same COVID-19 tax credit schemes.

"These two defendants set out to defraud American taxpayers on a grand scale," said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. "Every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar that can't be used for a vital government program or service. My office is committed to bringing crooks like Dudley and Loud to justice and protecting the public fisc."

Latisha Dudley

According to court filings and statements, from late 2021 through early 2025, Dudley recruited individuals, including friends and family, to claim tax refunds from the IRS they were not entitled to receive related to businesses they purportedly owned. Even though Dudley knew most of these business entities had minimal or no operations, she nevertheless prepared false employer's quarterly tax returns claiming large amounts of COVID-19 related tax credits. These tax returns inflated the number of employees and wages paid and falsely claimed eligibility for various COVID-19 tax credits.

In total, Dudley and others working at her direction prepared over 680 fraudulent tax returns claiming approximately $86 million in fraudulent refunds for COVID-19 related tax credits that her clients were not entitled to receive. The IRS rejected some of these returns but issued refunds totaling approximately $7.9 million. Dudley directed her clients to pay her a portion of these refunds. She received at least $1.2 million in preparer fees, which she used to purchase large quantities of luxury clothing and jewelry.

In all, Dudley pleaded guilty to seven counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, 27 counts of mail fraud, and one count of theft of government funds.

Timeeka Loud

According to the court documents and statements made in court, from 2022 through late 2023 Loud recruited individuals, including friends and family, to claim tax refunds from the IRS they were not entitled to receive related to businesses they purportedly owned. Even though Loud knew most of these business entities had minimal or no operations, she nevertheless prepared false employer's quarterly tax returns claiming large amounts of COVID-19 related tax credits. These tax returns inflated the number of employees and wages paid and falsely claimed eligibility for various COVID-19 tax credits.

In total, Loud and others working at her direction prepared over 130 fraudulent tax returns claiming approximately $23 million in refunds for COVID-19 related tax credits that her clients were not entitled to receive. The IRS rejected some of these returns but issued refunds totaling approximately $4.6 million. Loud directed her clients to pay her a fee typically amounting to 20-30% of the resulting refunds. She received at least $1.2 million in preparer fees, which she used to purchase large quantities of luxury clothing and jewelry.

Loud pleaded guilty to nine counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, 25 counts of mail fraud, and one count of theft of government funds.

Dudley and Loud are scheduled to be sentenced in February. Both face maximum penalties of three years in prison for each count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, 20 years in prison for each count of mail fraud, and 10 years in prison for each count of theft of government funds.

Individuals who worked with Dudley or Loud

Four other defendants who worked with Dudley have previously pleaded guilty to multiple counts of mail fraud and theft of government funds as part of this same scheme.

Angel Brown, 31, of Conshohocken, Pa., pleaded guilty on May 1, 2026. Dudley filed tax returns for an entity Brown owned, fraudulently claiming over $1.2 million in COVID-19 related tax credits that the entities were not entitled to receive. Brown received over $177,000 in fraudulent tax refunds as a result. (Docket No. 26-CR-156)

Gameer Coleman, 33, of Philadelphia, Pa., pleaded guilty on May 15, 2026. Dudley filed false tax returns filed claiming over $1.8 million in COVID-19 related tax credits, resulting in Coleman receiving over $1 million in fraudulent tax refunds. (Docket No. 26-CR-161).

Alethia Murphy, 56, also of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2026. Dudley filed false tax returns for an entity Murphy owned, claiming approximately $950,000 in fraudulent tax refunds, for which Murphy received nearly $700,000. (Docket No. 26-CR-176)

Shakeema Turner, 35, of Dover, Delaware, pleaded guilty on October 14, 2026. Dudley filed false tax returns for an entity Turner owned, which resulted in Turner receiving almost $800,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. (Docket No. 26-CR-287)

Three other defendants who worked with Loud have previously pleaded guilty to multiple counts of mail fraud and theft of government funds as part of this same scheme.

Ann Grice, 55, of Philadelphia, Pa., pleaded guilty on June 22, 2026. As a result of over a dozen false tax returns filed by Loud for Grice, Grice fraudulently received nearly $800,000 from the IRS. (Docket No. 26-CR-208)

Tinisha Loud, 27, also of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty on July 8, 2026. Tax returns filed for her business entities falsely claimed over $4.3 million in COVID-19 related tax credits, for which Loud received over $860,000. (Docket No. 26-CR-178)

Hasiyna Carroll, 28, also of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty on September 8, 2026. Loud filed false tax returns for two of Carroll's business entities that fraudulently claimed approximately $3.9 million in refunds, of which Carroll received over $1 million. (Docket No. 26-CR-320)

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ("Fraud Division"). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

These cases were investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys S. Chandler Harris and Alexander Bowerman and Trial Attorney Likhitha Butchireddygari of the Fraud Division's Tax Section.