MIAMI, Florida — A South Florida tax preparer has pleaded guilty to preparing and submitting false tax forms to support over 200 fraudulent loan applications under the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program.
Roody Metelus, a 47-year-old from Westlake, owned JRS Tax Services, LLC, in Dania Beach. From January 2021 to January 2022, Metelus collaborated with others to fabricate tax documents for clients, falsely portraying them as self-employed business owners eligible for PPP funds, according to court documents.
“Pandemic relief programs were created to help small businesses survive an economic crisis, not to enrich tax preparers through fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This defendant fabricated tax records, exploited his clients’ trust, and helped generate more than $4.1 million in fraudulent loan applications to steal taxpayer-funded relief.”…