Franklin CPA Charged in Federal Fraud Scheme

A Franklin Certified Public Accountant, has been charged with wire fraud, money laundering and tax fraud in a federal court.

A federal indictment was unsealed on Tuesday against 36-year-old Jason Alexander Jerkins, the owner of Jerkins Business Solutions, also known as JBS, in what prosecutors called a “scheme” to fraudulently “take his clients’ money.”

Jerkins was arrested on Jan. 14 and granted pre-trial release on Jan. 15.

Prosecutors allege that between March 2020 and October 2024, Jerkins stole money from the bank accounts of numerous JBS clients and attempted to hide his actions by making fraudulent transactions “appear as though they were for legitimate business purposes” through the use of the Intuit QuickBooks software.

“Jerkins would initiate these withdrawals from his clients’ accounts within days of initiating legitimate payroll or tax payments from his clients’ accounts to make it appear as if the legitimate payments were split between multiple withdrawals by Intuit,” a news release states. “Jerkins would then withdraw funds from his clients’ accounts as if he were paying over business expenses owed by his clients, but 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 confronted him about fraudulent withdrawals, Jerkins provided those clients with fraudulent documentation that made the withdrawals appear to be legitimate,” the release continues. “And at least one time, Jerkins repaid a client the amount of a fraudulent withdrawal using funds from a second fraudulent withdrawal from another client’s account.”

Prosecutors allege that Jerkins made more than four hundred wire transfers totaling more than $3,900,000. On at least one occasion, in September 2023, Jerkins used stolen client funds to purchase a residential property, according to the release.

According to JBS’ website, the company advertises itself as “experts in accounting, tax and finance,” and Jerkins, who is referred to as simply Alex Jerkins, is listed as the company's “Principal Accountant.” The company has listed offices in Franklin, Fairview and Nashville.

A word cloud featured on the website includes the words “rules,” “transparency,” “trust,” and “IRS.” The U.S. Department of Justice allegations now seem to contradict those stated values as Jerkins is also accused of preparing fraudulent tax returns as part of the scheme.

If convicted, Jerkins faces up to twenty years in federal prison for the charge of wire fraud, up to ten years for the money laundering count, and up to three years for each count of preparing false tax returns.

Prosecutors are also seeking the forfeiture of any property purchased with the funds from JBS clients.