U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr. joined Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald and other Department of Justice leaders on Aug. 3 for a press conference announcing significant fraud enforcement actions across the Southeastern United States. The Northern District of Alabama was selected to participate due to its recent cases in combating fraud.
During the event, Williams highlighted a major case from the Northern District of Alabama involving tax preparer Michael Shine, who owns Shine’s Professional Services in Birmingham. The complaint alleges that Shine filed thousands of fraudulent tax returns falsely claiming green energy tax credits, resulting in over $65 million in losses to the government and taxpayers. Research indicates that United States v. Michael Shine is among the largest tax fraud cases in recent years.
Williams said, “We are committed in our State to continue doing what it takes to combat fraud. The Northern District of Alabama will continue this fight because it is a fight worth having. My sincere thanks to the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who pursued this case with our partners at the IRS, and I appreciate the fact that we have a national task force dedicated to fight fraud.”
The National Fraud Enforcement Division also announced new federal-state cooperation agreements with several states aimed at strengthening ongoing efforts against fraud, following a roundtable event attended by representatives from 18 U.S. Attorneys Offices, seven State Attorneys General Offices, five federal law enforcement partners, and more than 50 state officials. At this event, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen signed a Memorandum of Intent with NFED for joint anti-fraud initiatives.
The National Fraud Enforcement Division operates as part of a national effort led by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche under broader Trump Administration policies focused on fighting fraud.
The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama serves more than 2.8 million people across 31 counties—including Birmingham and Huntsville—prosecutes federal crimes, recovers funds lost to fraud, defends civil cases on behalf of the United States government, advances community safety through public engagement initiatives, and operates as part of the Department of Justice, according to the official website.