Tenia Thompson
Introduction
Tenia A. Thompson, 51, of Philadelphia, was arrested and charged by indictment announced 6 October 2026 with 17 counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, one count of filing a false tax return, and 49 counts of aiding the filing of false tax returns — a 69-count indictment alleging she defrauded the Small Business Administration, multiple SBA-approved lenders in the PPP and EIDL pandemic-loan programs, and the Internal Revenue Service. If convicted on all counts she faces up to 20 years per wire-fraud count, 30 years per bank-fraud count, and three years per tax count.
Background Information
Thompson owned and operated a financial services and tax preparation business operating as “Thompson Business and Tax Solutions” and “TBTS Taxes.” The indictment alleges that from approximately April 2020 through June 2024, she prepared false tax returns for individuals and businesses and helped clients apply for and obtain COVID-19 disaster-related loans and tax benefits to which they were not entitled — then charged the clients exorbitant fees for the service. The scheme ran on behalf of more than 100 clients across the four-year period.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not convicted. Thompson faces a 69-count indictment; the allegations are unproven and she is presumed innocent.
The scale alleged in the indictment is what separates the case from ordinary pandemic-loan prosecutions: at least $12 million in fraudulent loan proceeds, at least $5 million in fraudulent tax benefits, and at least $2.2 million in fees Thompson generated for herself. Prosecutors further allege she attempted to obtain tens of millions of dollars in additional tax benefits on her clients’ behalf, with the IRS rejecting most of those claims. The case arrived under the banner of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and the administration’s whole-of-government Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, and was investigated by the FBI, the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the SBA Office of Inspector General.
Public Reaction and Consequences
Thompson was taken into custody and charged with the full 69-count indictment in a single instrument, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Louis D. Lappen and S. Chandler Harris prosecuting. Beyond the headline counts, she faces up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $18,750,000 if convicted. The indictment makes her one of the district’s largest alleged pandemic-fraud defendants named this fall, in a window where EDPA has announced a dedicated interagency fraud task force.
Current Status
Thompson has been indicted and arrested but not convicted; every count is an accusation that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Her business’s public face — the two TBTS trade names — is now attached to a 69-count federal fraud indictment, and the client list of more than 100 people and businesses named only obliquely in the charges may face their own exposure as the case proceeds. No trial date had been announced as of the indictment’s unsealing.
Impact on Their Career/Life
A tax-preparation business accused of preparing false returns for a hundred-plus clients is, functionally, finished the moment the indictment lands: the trade names are in the charging instrument, and the alleged $2.2 million in fees becomes the government’s forfeiture target. Whether by plea or trial, Thompson’s professional identity as a trusted preparer is the first casualty of the case she now faces.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, “Philadelphia Woman Indicted for Sprawling Scheme to Defraud the Government Through Bogus Pandemic Loan Applications, False Tax Returns” — source