New Jersey tax preparer convicted for $170 million COVID-19 tax credit scheme

Date: Nov. 19, 2025

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Newark, NJ – A New Jersey tax preparer was found guilty by a jury for his scheme seeking more than $170 million in fraudulent tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) by causing more than 1,900 false tax returns to be filed with the IRS claiming COVID-19-related employment tax credits, Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Leon Haynes of Teaneck was convicted of 15 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns, one count of mail fraud, and two counts of tax evasion. Haynes was convicted following a six-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court. Sentencing is scheduled for March 12, 2026.

According to documents in this case and evidence at trial:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, Congress authorized an employee retention tax credit and sick and family leave credit that small businesses could use to help keep their business afloat and employees on payroll.

From November 2020 to May 2023, Haynes orchestrated a massive, multimillion dollar scam to exploit those COVID-related tax credits for his own greed. As a tax preparer, Haynes prepared and submitted, and worked with others to prepare and submit, more than 1,900 false employment tax returns to the IRS claiming COVID-related tax credits on behalf of himself and his clients. Each of these tax forms contained a number of false statements. For example, the vast majority of the tax forms claimed a fictitious number of employees and/or fabricated wages.

Haynes and his co-conspirators fraudulently sought more than $170 million in tax refunds on behalf of his own businesses and his clients and successfully caused the government to pay out over $55 million in refunds.

Throughout the scheme Haynes also charged clients a percentage of the refund checks as his fee and requested cash payments. He failed to report the money he received from his clients, thereby evading his own taxes.

Each count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false returns carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine; mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; and each tax evasion count carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba credited special agents the IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan; special agents of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Amy Connelly, and postal inspectors from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher Nielsen, Philadelphia Division, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fatime Meka Cano, Matthew Stark, and Peter A. Laserna of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark. Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Justice Department’s Tax Division.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.