On October 16, 2025, a non-DOJ individual was sentenced to 77 months of imprisonment followed by 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $3,146,986 for one count of theft of government money and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. Shawn Peterson was sentenced in the Northern District of Texas. According to the factual statement in support of the guilty plea, from in or about February 2021, through in or about April 2023, Peterson engaged in a scheme to claim fraudulent COVID relief credits available to employers – namely, the Employee Retention Credit and Sick and Family Leave Wage Credit – on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Forms 941 and Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns for at least five entities he created. These entities did not conduct any business, had no employees, had not made prior tax return filings, and did not timely file Forms W-2 for wages paid to employees. Peterson submitted approximately $5,279,030 in fraudulent requests for COVID-Related Tax Credits by filing approximately 30 false Forms 941. As a result of the scheme, the United States Treasury and the Small Business Administration (SBA) disbursed checks totaling approximately $3,146,986 to Peterson. The investigation was conducted by the OIG’s Dallas Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the SBA-OIG, on behalf of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.
Date Issued
Case Action
Sentencing