JACKSONVILLE, FL – Iona Coates, a Jacksonville woman running a seemingly legitimate tax business, is facing a double dose of federal prison time after being sentenced for both a years-long tax fraud scheme and her willing participation in a heartless online romance scam. Coates, owner of Bits & Bytes Accounting Services Inc., received a two-year sentence for each crime, to be served concurrently.
Between 2015 and 2020, Coates brazenly inflated her tax returns, claiming a false $228,788 in refunds. Court documents reveal she fabricated withholdings and payments to the IRS, effectively stealing from the American taxpayer. But her greed didn’t stop there. Coates also created nearly 20 shell companies, filing bogus returns to illegally claim fuel tax credits between 2017 and 2019 – a total of 35 fraudulent filings.
While lining her pockets with stolen tax money, Coates simultaneously dove into a different kind of criminal activity. In 2020, she connected with two individuals on a dating website and quickly offered up her bank account information. She became a critical “money mule” in an elaborate online romance scam, receiving funds from victims who believed they were sending money to their new loves. The U.S. Secret Service intervened in December 2020, warning Coates she was facilitating theft. She ignored the warning.
Undeterred, Coates continued laundering stolen funds, hooking up with another romance scammer. From December 2020 to September 2021, she processed a staggering $229,376.26 in illicit payments, transferring the money to the scammer while victims’ hearts – and bank accounts – were being broken. The Secret Service’s investigation exposed her deliberate and repeated participation in the scheme, despite being directly warned.
U.S. District Judge Brian Davis didn’t show Coates much sympathy. Beyond the four-year prison sentence, he ordered three years of supervised release upon her release. Crucially, Judge Davis mandated Coates pay $186,288 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury for the tax fraud and a full $229,376.26 to the victims of the romance scheme – a small measure of justice for those she helped rob.
The case was a joint effort between the IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service, with Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announcing the sentencing. Trial Attorneys Kevin Schneider and Wilson Stamm, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Frein, secured the conviction and sentencing, sending a clear message that exploiting trust and defrauding the government will not be tolerated.
Related Federal Cases
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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