Ohio Man Sentenced to Prison After Pleading Guilty to Filing False Tax Returns and Wire Fraud

TOLEDO – Jacques J. Eid, 56, of Perrysburg, Ohio, was sentenced to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Judge James G. Carr, after pleading guilty to filing false tax returns and wire fraud that defrauded educational and government entities. He was also fined $797,151.38 and ordered to pay restitution to the following: U.S. Department of Education, $14,760; Notre Dame Academy, $13,450; St. John’s Jesuit High School, $30,000; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, $223,575.69.

Eid pleaded guilty to the offenses in court on March 1, 2024, where he admitted to filing false tax returns with the IRS by underreporting taxable income of nearly $880,000 earned as owner of a convenience store, Madison Market, and a restaurant, Le Pam Pam, in Toledo from 2012-2018. Before the district court-imposed sentence, Eid repaid all taxes and penalties owed to the IRS resulting from his tax offenses.

Eid also admitted falsifying his income on the U.S. Department of Education’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly known as FAFSA, for one of his children which was then used to determine aid packages at The University of Toledo and the University of Dayton. This resulted in fraudulently obtaining more than $11,000 in Pell Grants and $3,000 in Federal Supplemental Opportunity grants for college. Eid also falsified his income when seeking financial assistance for his children at two Toledo-area private schools, St. John’s Jesuit High School and Notre Dame Academy, ultimately receiving more than $40,000 collectively. His children would not have been entitled to receive financial aid if accurate income, assets, and net worth had been reported on applications.

“Eid lied on his tax returns to avoid paying the taxes he owed and to further another lie about his children needing financial aid,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “Falsifying financial need takes away from students who genuinely need the assistance for their education, and the defendant shamelessly scammed the system so that his own family could benefit at the expense of others.  Federal law enforcement agencies pay attention when persons lie about their finances, and we are pleased that the district court has held Eid accountable for his disgraceful conduct.”

Additionally, Eid admitted submitting a false application for his convenience store to become an authorized retailer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP Food Stamp Program. The application falsely stated that his spouse was the sole owner of the convenience store and that there were no other owners, even though Eid was the true owner of the business. He attempted to hide his ownership of the store so that it could accept food stamps. Eid was disqualified as a program retailer due to his prior conviction for seven counts of illegal use of food stamps or WIC program benefits in 2004. From 2008 to 2021 he operated Madison Market under the false pretense that he was not the owner. As a result of that misrepresentation, the store received more than $1 million in SNAP benefits which resulted in at least $220,000 in unlawful profits to the store.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gene Crawford for the Northern District of Ohio. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigations, Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Education Office of Inspector General.