Nursing student Jessica Lam, right, administers a COVID-19 test inside Milford High School in Milford, Massachusetts on Dec. 18, 2020.
Los Angeles, California – Federal authorities have charged four Southern California residents in what is described as the largest COVID-related tax fraud scheme ever uncovered in the United States. The indictment, unsealed this month, alleges that the group conspired to steal nearly $93 million in pandemic relief funds by exploiting emergency tax credits meant to sustain struggling workers and businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.
Prosecutors say Kristerpher Turner, 52, of Harbor City, together with Toriano Knox, 55, of Los Angeles, Kenya Jones, 46, of Compton, and Joyce Johnson, 55, of Victorville, coordinated an elaborate web of fraudulent tax filings that spanned from June 2020 through December 2024. Their alleged scheme targeted sick and family wage credits created under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, a congressional effort to help small businesses keep employees on payroll while they were out sick or caring for family during the pandemic.
According to the indictment, Turner masterminded the operation, recruiting a network of associates and so-called “fraud clients,” including romantic partners, who would supply personal information to fabricate non-existent businesses. The group then filed for tax refunds on those businesses’ behalf, claiming credits for wages that had never been paid. Others involved handed over information about legitimate businesses that were not eligible for the credits, which Turner’s network then used to file false claims anyway.
Federal investigators allege the scheme involved at least 148 companies — some entirely fake, others real but ineligible. The group sought nearly $248 million in refunds, ultimately collecting roughly $93 million through Treasury checks issued by the IRS. Those checks were allegedly funneled into bank accounts opened under fictitious business names, with Turner skimming 20 to 40 percent of each payout.
The conspiracy took a violent turn in August 2023, after members of the group learned investigators were closing in. Prosecutors say Knox, Jones, and others attempted to kill Turner at an office park in Gardena to keep him from cooperating with law enforcement. Turner was shot multiple times and survived, though he is now paralyzed.
All four defendants were charged June 11 with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to submit false claims. Knox and Jones face additional charges of attempted murder and using a firearm in furtherance of that crime, which could carry a life sentence.
The investigation was led by the FBI, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Officials described the case as a stark betrayal of public trust at a time when millions relied on government relief to survive the pandemic’s economic devastation.
If convicted, the defendants face decades in federal prison for a scheme prosecutors say preyed on the nation’s good faith in a moment of historic vulnerability.
