Minnesota tax preparer pleads guilty to IRS conspiracy over false COVID leave credits

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

The Justice Department has secured a guilty plea from a Minnesota return preparer who conspired to claim COVID-19 sick and family leave tax credits that clients were not entitled to. The case, prosecuted by the new Fraud Division's Tax Section, turns a pandemic relief provision into the basis for a 150-plus return fraud scheme and carries up to five years in prison.

• Abdulkadir Koosaar pleaded guilty on 12 November 2026 to one count of conspiring to defraud the IRS.
• The conspiracy filed more than 150 false returns for tax years 2020 and 2021 claiming COVID-19 sick and family leave credits clients were not entitled to.
• The fraudulent returns caused a tax loss of more than $750,000.
• Koosaar faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, plus supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.
• The case is prosecuted by the Fraud Division's Tax Section and investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation.

Executive summary

Abdulkadir Koosaar, of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, pleaded guilty on 12 November 2026 to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, the Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs announced. According to court documents and statements made in court, Koosaar conspired with…

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