An Arizona man from Cochise County has been sentenced to three years of supervised release following a four-year prison term after submitting a false tax return and loan application to receive Covid-19 relief funds, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Roy Lane, 44, was indicted on two counts of wire fraud and one count of filing false claims in August 2024. A resident of St. David, a small area located south of Tucson, he falsely claimed over $7.4 million in tax refunds and received more than $300,000 in Covid-19 loans for which he was not eligible, the Justice Department reported.
Along with his prison sentence, U.S. District Judge John C. Hindaker mandated that Lane repay $856,692.91 to the United States.
Legal representatives and investigators noted that Lane had filed documents asserting he operated a “wholesale” business. He indicated, “I submitted documents to the IRS, applied for a business license from the city of Tucson, opened a business bank account, and filed a false employment-related tax return.”
However, his claims were inconsistent. Within a year, he alleged having 17 employees and generating over $500,000 in revenue annually. Later, he escalated this to claiming 31 employees and $1.2 million in revenue in a fraudulent application for a Paycheck Protection Program loan.
The DOJ revealed that Lane also used someone else’s personal identification to file a false claim for tax refunds with the IRS.
The investigation was carried out by the IRS Criminal Investigation team and the FBI.
