NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A certified public accountant in Franklin has been charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud, according to an unsealed federal indictment.
According to the indictment, 36-year-old Jason Alexander Jerkins of Franklin is a certified public accountant who owned Jerkins Business Solutions (JBS). Through his business, Jerkins provided tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services — among other accounting and financial services — for individuals and businesses starting in 2015, with offices in Franklin and Fairview.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said between March 2020 and Oct. 2024, Jerkins obtained and maintained bank account and online banking information of JBS clients. Using Intuit QuickBooks software, the DOJ said Jerkins would initiate wire transfers out of his clients’ bank accounts and into bank accounts that he controlled or could access.
He would use the QuickBooks software so the withdrawals showed up on bank statements with descriptions of “Intuit”, “Jerkins Business Sol,” or “Jerkins Business Sale,” which concealed the nature of the fraudulent transactions from clients and made them appear as though they were legitimate payroll or tax payments from his clients’ accounts, appearing as if the legitimate payments were split between multiple withdrawals by Intuit.
According to the DOJ, Jerkins would then withdraw funds from his clients’ accounts as if he were paying over business expenses owed by his clients. However, instead of paying the expense owed by the business, Jerkins would deposit the funds into his own bank accounts or use the funds for his personal benefit.
When clients reportedly confronted him about fraudulent withdrawals, Jerkins provided those clients with fraudulent documentation that made the withdrawals appear to be legitimate, the DOJ said in a release. At least one time, Jerkins reportedly repaid a client the amount of a fraudulent withdrawal using funds from a second fraudulent withdrawal from another client’s account.
Throughout the scheme, the DOJ said Jerkins initiated over 400 wire transfers totaling over $3,900,000 from his Intuit account to transfer the unauthorized client funds to one of his bank accounts. On at least one occasion, in September 2023, Jerkins used these stolen client funds to purchase residential real property, authorities said.
As part of his plan to take his clients’ money, the DOJ said Jerkins prepared and filed materially false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for at least two clients. These tax returns reported false deductions and false business expenses, which the taxpayers did not incur, to the IRS.
If convicted, Jerkins faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud count, up to 10 years for the money laundering and up to three years for each count of preparing false tax returns. The DOJ is also seeking forfeiture of the real property purchased with the fraudulent funds.
The case is being investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell T. Galloway is prosecuting the case.
