Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\nHe also faces up to five years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands is presiding over the case and there is no parole in the federal system.<\/p>\n
The investigation into the potential fraud scheme started on June 24, 2023, when a New York State Department of Taxation and Finance investigator began checking tax documents allegedly filed by Georgians. It involved the submission of 22 New York State tax documents by 18 Georgia residents. The returns were flagged due to several factors, including out-of-state residency, first-time filer status and other indicators of fraud.<\/p>\n
The investigation into the potential fraud scheme began on June 24, 2023, by a New York State Department of Taxation and Finance investigator. It involved the submission of 22 New York State tax documents by 18 Georgia residents. <\/p>\n
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The returns were flagged due to several factors, including out-of-state residency, first-time filer status and other indicators of fraud.<\/p>\n
Investigators first discovered Jordan created an account in February 2023 with Online Taxes, a Missouri-based company providing federal and state online tax preparation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to protecting taxpayers by ensuring that tax credits designed to create and maintain jobs are used lawfully,\u201d said U.S. Attorney William R. \u201cWill\u201d Keyes. \u201cThe Department of Justice\u2019s National Fraud Enforcement Division remains focused on combating fraud Keyes said We will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to prevent financial crimes and uphold the public\u2019s trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan and Rugg both admitted to filing or helping others file film tax credits for individuals who had not worked in New York and had not incurred any costs producing film or television shows. <\/p>\n
In one instance, the Justice Department said Jordan admitted to filing a fraudulent tax return for an individual identified as S.B. on April 18, 2023, using S.B.\u2019s Social Security number without lawful authority. This specific fraudulent return yielded $49,772 from New York State. <\/p>\n
\u201cFinancial fraud is far from a victimless crime. Schemes like this divert public resources, exploit stolen identities and erode confidence in programs designed to benefit legitimate businesses and workers,\u201d Thomas Clark, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent of FBI Atlanta\u2019s Valdosta office, said. \u201cThe FBI and our partners will continue to aggressively investigate those who believe they can profit through deception and hold them accountable for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
On May 4, 2023, Jordan called the New York tax department pretending to be S.B. to request information on the fraudulent return, USDOJ said.<\/p>\n
Amanda Hiller, N.Y. State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner, issued a warning to potential offenders and commended investigators for their work to bring Rugg and Jordan to justice. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet this serve as a warning to any taxpayers considering lining their pockets for personal gain,\u201d Hiller said. \u201cThe defendants repeatedly submitted fraudulent tax records attempting to steal funds that drive New York State\u2019s creative economy.\u201d Hiller commended the work of NYS Tax Investigators and thanked United States Attorney Keyes and his office for their partnership.<\/p>\n
Rugg faces a maximum of 30 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.<\/p>\n
Jordan faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud, in addition to a maximum of two years in prison to be served consecutively and a $250,000 fine for aggravated identity theft.<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 3 at 3 p.m. in Albany. while Rugg\u2019s is scheduled for Oct. 29 at 3 p.m., also in Albany.<\/p>\n
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>]<\/p>\n\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GEORGIA \u2014 Two Georgia residents pled guilty in federal court to using online tax software to falsely claim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[115193,115196,9,115194,11,10,115195,107346],"class_list":["post-303908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-film-tax-credit-fraud","tag-joshua-jordan","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-film-tax-credit","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-ryan-rugg","tag-usdoj"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}