Photo of Steven Jalloul via Facebook

A tax consultant in the Lake Highlands area pleaded guilty last month to defrauding the United States government of millions in a Paycheck Protection Program scheme.

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Steven Jalloul, 43, owned Royalty Tax & Financial Services LLC on LBJ Freeway at Schroeder Road.

He admitted to falsifying about 170 PPP loan applications in 2020, seeking more than $23 million on behalf of 160 clients of his tax-preparation business.

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas:

Mr. Jalloul admitted he inflated clients’ employee rosters and monthly payroll expenses in order to increase the amount of PPP funds for which their businesses would be eligible.  He generally charged clients a 2 to 20 percent commission on the PPP loans they received and even listed his ex-wife as Royalty Tax’s authorized representative, without her consent, when seeking an inflated PPP loan for his own business.

Ninety-seven of the falsified applications were approved, resulting in his clients receiving $12 million in PPP money. Those clients then paid him at least $972,114 in fees.

Jalloul, who is a Liberian national, is already in prison on a January 2020 tax fraud case for which he received a six-year prison term. With the guilty plea in this case, he could receive another 10 years in federal prison.