Wayne County Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty In $500K Pandemic Fraud Scheme

ALLEN PARK, MI — A Wayne County tax preparer known as "Tax Guy Chris" pleaded guilty Wednesday to fraud and identity theft in a pandemic unemployment insurance fraud scheme, according to federal officials.

Christopher Niebel, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faces a maximum of 20 years incarceration for wire fraud, alongside a two-year consecutive mandatory sentence for aggravated identity theft.

His sentencing date is scheduled for May 21.

Niebel owned and operated a tax preparation service called "Tax Guy Chris" in Allen Park and worked seasonally as a manager for Party City, a New-Jersey-based retail chain selling party supplies, according to federal officials.

As a manger for Party City, Niebel had access to the files of individuals who had worked or applied to work at the company, including paperwork from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's I-9 employment verification form, according to federal officials.

Sometime around 2019, Niebel stole numerous I-9 forms, which contained an individual's personal identifying information (PII), including names, social security numbers and dates of birth, from Party City, according to federal officials.

Niebel then used the stolen information to submit false claims online for benefits with pandemic unemployment assistance funds without the knowledge or consent of each person, according to federal officials.

Niebel also intentionally used information from individuals outside of Michigan to avoid getting caught, according to federal officials.

Niebel then opened numerous bank accounts in Michigan to secure the unemployment funds, which were wired to those accounts, according to federal officials.

In total, Niebel secured roughly $512,000 in pandemic unemployment assistance funds that he was not entitled to receive from the program, according to federal officials.

Niebel spent the money on a variety of personal expenses, including food, lodging, lottery tickets and casino gambling, according to federal officials.

"It is astounding the selfish schemes fraudsters cook up using fake identities to steal money meant for hard-working Michiganders," Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency Director Julia Dale said in the release. "At the start of the pandemic, so many people needed help and all Chris Niebel thought about was how he could game the system for his personal gain."