Chowan Watson
Introduction
Chowan Watson is a 55-year-old tax preparer from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, whose name became public on 28 October 2026, when she pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return resulting in a tax loss of approximately $3,900,000. U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle of the Eastern District of North Carolina announced the plea, which Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted. According to the release, Watson faces a maximum penalty of 36 months in federal prison when sentenced later this year, and she has agreed to pay restitution to the IRS. She operated Rocky Mount tax preparation businesses with Angela Dickens, who has previously pleaded guilty in the same matter.
Background Information
Per the release, Watson and Angela Dickens operated Empire Tax Service, later renamed K&J Tax Service, in Rocky Mount. From 2017 to 2023, the two fraudulently filed hundreds of tax returns by inflating “Other 1099 Withholding” amounts. According to the government, the inflated withholding entries inflated the refunds taxpayers received, and the scheme allowed the preparers to take excessive fees from those refunds once paid out. The Justice Department puts total tax losses from the conduct at approximately $3.9 million. Watson’s guilty plea to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return sits at the center of that six-year operation.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Pleaded guilty; sentencing pending. Watson admitted aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return resulting in a tax loss of approximately $3,900,000, and she faces sentencing later this year.
According to the release, Watson pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return resulting in a tax loss of approximately $3,900,000. Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted the plea, and U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle announced it publicly on 28 October 2026. The plea reaches back to 2017, when, per the government, the fraudulent filing operation at her Rocky Mount tax preparation businesses began.
The mechanics, as described in the release, were repetitive and profitable. From 2017 to 2023, Watson and Dickens fraudulently filed hundreds of tax returns by inflating “Other 1099 Withholding” amounts on client filings. Those inflated withholding entries inflated the refunds taxpayers received, and the larger refunds in turn allowed the preparers to take excessive fees from the money that came back. The Justice Department puts the total tax loss from the scheme at approximately $3.9 million. Dickens, the release notes, has previously pleaded guilty.
At the announcement, Boyle said, “Watson and Dickens didn’t just bend the rules—they broke the door wide open,” and, “For years, they engineered a scheme that faked withholdings, pumped up refunds, and drained the U.S. Treasury of nearly four million dollars.” The preparers, he said, had “twisted a legitimate tax preparation service into a personal profit machine.”
Public Reaction and Consequences
The documented response has been institutional. U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle of the Eastern District of North Carolina announced the plea and said the pair had “preyed on the trust of hardworking Eastern North Carolinian taxpayers,” closing his statement with a blunt assessment: “Cheaters. Never. Win.” Donald “Trey” Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Charlotte Field Office — the agency that investigated the case — said, “Those who attempt to undermine the integrity of the American tax system should understand IRS Criminal Investigation follows the money to uncover fraudulent schemes.” He added that IRS-CI, partnered with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will continue to pursue anyone who seeks to defraud the tax system. The release also places the prosecution within the Justice Department’s wider enforcement effort, noting the National Fraud Enforcement Division created on April 7, 2026 to investigate and prosecute fraud against the American people. For Watson, the concrete consequence so far is the guilty plea itself, with prison time and restitution still ahead.
Current Status
Watson’s case now moves toward sentencing. Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted her plea, and per the release she faces a maximum penalty of 36 months in federal prison when sentenced later this year. She has agreed to pay restitution to the IRS. Angela Dickens, who operated the Rocky Mount businesses with her, has previously pleaded guilty; the release does not say whether Dickens has been sentenced. IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Related court documents and information, the release says, can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:26-CR-125-M.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Watson built her career around the two Rocky Mount firms she ran with Dickens — Empire Tax Service, later K&J Tax Service — and that work is now the subject of a federal fraud case covering hundreds of returns filed between 2017 and 2023. With the plea accepted, what the release describes as a legitimate tax preparation service has been recast as what the U.S. Attorney called a scheme that “faked withholdings, pumped up refunds, and drained the U.S. Treasury of nearly four million dollars.” She faces up to 36 months in prison, a restitution obligation to the IRS, and sentencing later this year, and prosecutors present the case as a warning that preparers who exploit their clients and the tax system will be prosecuted.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina, “Rocky Mount Tax Preparer’s $3.9M Fraud Empire Crumbles, She Confesses Guilt” — source