A San Fernando Valley, Calif.-based CPA has pleaded guilty to helping a client fraudulently obtain a $1.2-million Paycheck Protection Loan. The accountant, Bernard Turk of Tarzana, this month pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.Turk admitted preparing a federal corporate income tax return, claiming his client’s business, Agency 126, paid employees $5,383,401 in wages during the 2019 tax year.
He prepared the return in February 2021 but later admitted both he and his client knew that Agency 126, a purported marketing and video production agency based in Irvine, had no employees, paid no wages, and never filed tax returns with the IRS.
The bank, relying in part on the false return, approved the loan and wired $1,212,312 to a bank account that the client controlled. As a part of scheme, Turk was to receive a percentage of the loan proceeds when the bank forgave the loan.
