Roy L. Layne, a resident of Arizona, recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud and submitting a false refund claim to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Layne acknowledged that he fraudulently acquired more than $850,000 from the IRS and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) through several COVID-19 relief initiatives.
Court documents revealed that Layne engaged in fraudulent schemes during 2020 and 2021, submitting false applications for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. These federal programs were created to provide financial support to Americans affected by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his fraudulent applications, Layne falsely asserted that his fictitious businesses had numerous employees and reported substantial gross receipts. To bolster his fraudulent claims, he fabricated business and employment tax documents, which he submitted to both the IRS and the SBA, resulting in the approval of over $300,000 in ineligible loans.
Furthermore, Layne submitted false tax returns in 2022, falsely requesting nearly $7.5 million in refunds. The IRS ultimately paid approximately $550,000 based on these fraudulent claims.
Layne is set to be sentenced on February 3, 2025, and he faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for each wire fraud charge, alongside a potential five-year sentence for the false claim charge. Besides imprisonment, he may also incur a period of supervised release, restitution, and other financial penalties. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after evaluating the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and relevant statutory factors.
The announcement of Layne’s guilty plea highlights the ongoing efforts to combat fraud, as investigations were carried out by IRS Criminal Investigations and the FBI.
