A St. Louis woman has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $177,000 through false claims for pandemic-era tax credits intended to support employee retention.
Ayana J. Brown, 34, admitted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two felony counts of theft of government property. Prosecutors said Brown filed two fraudulent quarterly employment tax returns (IRS Form 941s) with the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of her company, Yaya Flowtiques LLC, on December 22, 2022. The filings claimed that the business had five employees and reported wages totaling $177,321.77 and $145,098.88 for the first and second quarters of 2021.
The Employee Retention Tax Credit program was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage businesses to keep employees by providing tax credits if they paid qualifying wages during periods affected by government shutdown orders or significant declines in revenue.
Authorities determined that Brown did not have any employees or pay wages during this period and that Yaya Flowtiques had little or no business activity. According to court documents, Brown had never reported income from the company and knew the submitted forms were false.
As a result of these fraudulent filings, the IRS issued two U.S. Treasury checks—one for $97,645.53 and another for $79,901.40—to Yaya Flowtiques LLC. Brown deposited both checks before making large cash withdrawals and spending the rest on personal expenses including food and shopping.
Brown is scheduled for sentencing on May 6. Each count of theft of government property carries a maximum penalty of up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting.
