Jury convicts Maple Heights man of leading a conspiracy in which they filed more than 800 tax returns to falsely claim $15 million in refunds

A Maple Heights man was convicted by a jury for leading a conspiracy in which they filed more than 800 tax returns annually between 2012 and 2015 resulting in approximately $15 million in refunds being issued, a portion of which neither they nor their clients were entitled.

Keith Jeffries, 44, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and multiple counts of aiding and abetting the preparation of false tax returns. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 8.

Defendants Brian Peacock, of Sandusky, Linnette Coleman, and Nicole Pugh, both of Cleveland, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy.

Jeffries operated a tax preparation business under the name Krew Time, LLC. Jeffries, Peacock, Coleman and Pugh all prepared returns for Krew Time clients. The company operated out of three locations – from Jeffries’ residence on Friend Avenue in Maple Heights, from the back offices of a MetroPCS store on East 71^st Street in Cleveland and from a commercial building on East 140^th Street in Cleveland, according to court documents.

The defendants filed false, fictitious and fraudulent tax returns in the name of Krew Time clients. The clients received the majority of the refunds with the defendants receiving a portion of the refund as their tax preparation fee, according to court documents.

They did this by filing false itemized deductions, business income expenses, tax credit information, medical expenses, false filing status and other information to obtain income tax refunds to which the taxpayers were not entitled. This took place between 2011 and 2016, according to court documents.

“This group spent years riping off the federal government by filing hundreds of fake tax returns,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said. “These defendants took advantage of programs designed to help sick people or struggling students and instead used them to enrich themselves.”

“These defendants wreaked havoc on the IRS by misusing their Electronic Filing Identification Number and Preparer Tax Identification Number to electronically file fraudulent income tax returns for their clients that generated inflated false income tax refunds,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carmen Henderson and Alejandro Abreu.