FOX 5 Atlanta54%
Georgia film tax fraud: Southwest Georgia men guilty in $550K scheme 5%
7/23/2026, 12:51:32 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 8 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Emotion, Negativity Bias, and Availability Heuristic, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 16.8% saturation with 93 hits. Analysis detected 324 faulty-reasoning hits from 553 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 19.4% and a BS Rank of 5% (19,468 of 20,315 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 95.80% of the article peer group.
Two Southwest Georgia men face decades in federal prison after admitting to a fraudulent scheme that attempted to steal over $550,000 in New York film industry tax credits.
Albany federal court tax convictions
Ryan Rugg, 28, of Tifton, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
He faces up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
His co-defendant, Joshua Jordan, 37, of Tifton, pleaded guilty on March 26 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Jordan faces up to 30 years for wire fraud plus a mandatory two consecutive years for identity theft, along with $500,000 in potential fines and five years of supervised release.
Southwest Georgia tax credit investigation
Officials have not publicly identified the 18 Georgia residents whose information appeared on the tax forms.
Authorities have also not disclosed whether any additional co-conspirators were involved in gathering the personal data.
Fake New York tax scheme
State tax investigators flagged 22 suspicious New York tax returns submitted by 18 Georgia residents starting on June 24, 2023.
The forms falsely claimed tax credits for film and television production work that never occurred.
In total, Jordan and Rugg fraudulently obtained or attempted to steal more than $550,000 through the conspiracy.
Jordan created an account in February 2023 with Online Taxes, a tax software company based in Missouri.
On April 18, 2023, he submitted a fraudulent return using the stolen identity and Social Security number of a victim identified in court records as S.B.
Jordan called the New York tax office on May 4, 2023, pretending to be S.B. to check on the filing.
That single fraudulent submission resulted in a $49,772 payout from the state of New York.
Official statements on tax fraud
"We are committed to protecting taxpayers by ensuring that tax credits designed to create and maintain jobs are used lawfully," said U.S.
Attorney William R.
"Will" Keyes.
"The Department of Justice’s National Fraud Enforcement Division remains focused on combating fraud.
We will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to prevent financial crimes and uphold the public’s trust."
"Financial fraud is far from a victimless crime.
Schemes like this divert public resources, exploit stolen identities, and erode confidence in programs designed to benefit legitimate businesses and workers," said Thomas Clark, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent of FBI Atlanta’s Valdosta office.
"The FBI and our partners will continue to aggressively investigate those who believe they can profit through deception and hold them accountable for their actions."
"Let this serve as a warning to any taxpayers considering lining their pockets for personal gain.
The defendants repeatedly submitted fraudulent tax records attempting to steal funds that drive New York State’s creative economy," said Amanda Hiller, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner.
"I commend the dedicated work of our NYS Tax Investigators and thank United States Attorney Keyes and his office for their partnership and diligent efforts in bringing tax criminals to justice," Hiller added.
Jordan will be sentenced on Sept. 3 at 3 p.m. in Albany.
Federal crimes do not carry parole.
Rugg's sentencing is set for Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. in Albany before U.S.
District Judge W.
Louis Sands.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.