MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) – A woman pleaded guilty Friday to participating in a elaborate scheme defrauding the federal government of hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 funds, using personally identifiable information from hundreds of people.

Tiveria Lasha Populus, 45, of Mobile, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. She is the first of five people named in the indictment to admit guilt.

Populus admitted that his conduct resulted in an expected loss to taxpayers of between $40,000 and $95,000. A judge scheduled his sentencing for April. Prosecutors agreed to recommend leniency as part of the plea deal. Defense attorney Tom Walsh said he will seek probation.

“The government prints money and there is no guidance for these (programs),” he said. “They are designed for fraud. “My client had a small role in it.”

Federal law enforcement investigators uncovered the alleged conspiracy while conducting a separate drug investigation. The main accused in the fraud case, Echandza Dianca Maxie, is also named in the drug case. Prosecutors allege she helped her husband, Glennie Antonio McGee, accused of running a drug ring in a case that became public after Mobile County sheriff’s deputies said They found 2 kilograms of cocaine in a 3-year-old’s backpack in March.

The COVID fraud case centers on Maxie’s mobile tax preparation service called Self Made Taxes. Prosecutors allege he recruited people to exploit potential taxpayers whose information could be used to file false returns claiming a sick leave and family leave credit created by Congress for people who contracted COVID-19.

Walsh said his client became involved through co-accused John David Clarke and he does not know if Populus knew Maxie. Clarke has pleaded not guilty.

In some cases, according to Populus’ written plea agreement, taxpayers understood they were eligible to receive “COVID money.” Prosecutors allege they kept many taxpayers in the dark.

Court records cite a conversation between Populus and Clarke that investigators intercepted in August 2022.

“We need to try to find someone else,” Clarke told Populus, in a conversation that prosecutors describe as an effort to find people whose information would best meet the conspirators’ needs.

In another conversation, according to the disclosure document, Populus expressed concern that if one of the taxpayers read a verification letter sent by the IRS, he would know that she misrepresented the extent to which her personal information had been used.

Court records indicate that Clarke told Populus that “they had to go check that mailbox… go check.”

Populus replied: “I did. But I don’t know who there doesn’t have cameras or anything. “I must – I’m going there – I’m going to the neighbor’s box.”

Clarke and McGee discussed withdrawing fraudulent refunds from a bank for several days to avoid raising a “red flag,” according to the deposition document.

Clarke has pleaded not guilty.

Populus also admitted that he applied for and obtained at least two loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, created by Congress in the wake of the pandemic. Those loans totaled $41,665 even though she has no business licenses, according to her plea agreement.

Populus’ plea deal lays out new details of Maxie’s role. According to the document, he told the FBI in December 2022 that he never received money from tax preparation clients in his personal bank account. But bank records contradict this, according to the document. Prosecutors contend he deposited more than $500,000 in tax refunds from 2021 to 2022. In many cases, he received all or much of his clients’ tax refunds into his personal bank account.

Investigators searched Maxie and McGee’s home and found a handwritten document containing the names and personal identifying information of more than 200 people. Advance refunds listed on the ledger totaled $4.9 million, of which the IRS accepted more than $2.1 million. Records show that more than $400,000 of that amount was deposited into Maxie’s personal bank account.

Court records also indicated that Maxie used TurboTax software, which is designed for taxpayers who file their own tax returns, not legitimate tax preparation companies.

The disclosure document indicates that a fraud analysis showed a higher-than-average refund amount for returns processed by Maxie, and a higher-than-average use of a tax credit for self-employed workers who missed work because they were sick. Few, if any, people owned businesses or were qualified to receive the credit, according to court records.

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