Virginia Businesswoman Sentenced for Employment Tax Crimes

A Virginia woman was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for not paying employment taxes to the IRS.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Gail Jones, of Dumfries, Virginia, was a co-owner and served as director, president and vice president of parcel delivery service S&G Property Management Inc. (S&G). Between 2013 and 2018, Jones caused income, Social Security and Medicare taxes to be withheld from S&G's employees. However, Jones did not pay those withholdings to the IRS as she was required to do. To thwart potential IRS levies and other collection activities, Jones opened new bank accounts using other individuals' social security numbers, new Employer Identification Numbers and variations of her business' name. Between December 2016 and December 2018, she withdrew over $450,000 in cash from business bank accounts in lieu of paying the taxes owed.

In total, Jones caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $950,000.

Additionally, Jones fraudulently applied for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, which were part of a COVID-19 relief program intended to provide loans to certain businesses to help them retain their employees or stay afloat during the pandemic. Jones applied for the loans even though S&G was no longer operating. She fraudulently received $20,800 in loans.

In addition to her prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff for the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Jones to three years of supervised release and to pay $950,100.18 in restitution to the United States.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Marissa Brodney of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Shartar for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case.