Memphis woman sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for defrauding Department of Veterans Affairs of over $2.9 million

Date: Feb. 4, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Memphis, TN – Quannah Fields Harris of Memphis has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for defrauding the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) out of over $2,900,000. Harris was convicted after a jury trial in October 2025. D. Michael Dunavant, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

On February 2, 2026, United States District Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr. sentenced Harris to 96 months in prison and ordered her to pay $2,905,853.09 in restitution to the VA for conspiring to defraud the United States and committing wire fraud.

According to the facts presented at trial and sentencing, Harris was the owner of Last Minute Cuts School of Barbering and Cosmetology, a barbering and cosmetology school located at 2195 South Third Street in Memphis, from 2014 to 2019. During this period, Harris engaged in a scheme that defrauded the GI Bill, a federal program administered by the VA designed to help veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces learn vocational skills.

Harris billed the VA for dozens of veterans she enrolled as students at Last Minute Cuts who attended few classes, if any, received no instruction, took no tests or exams, and never obtained a state barbering or cosmetology license. Her school was, in reality, a sham. Many of the veterans Harris enrolled at Last Minute Cuts never set foot in the school again after the day Harris enrolled them; yet Harris billed the VA for years thereafter for their purported attendance.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said: “Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces deserve our honor and respect, and this office will always protect them. Victimizing the VA harms veterans and deserves significant punishment. Harris will now spend every “last minute” of her lengthy sentence in federal prison for her crimes against our nation’s best.”

There is no parole in the federal system.

“The defendant schemed to defraud the government, got caught, and is now being held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins, Charlotte Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation. “Our special agents will continue collaborative investigative efforts alongside our law enforcement partners to follow the money and find those attempting to defraud the federal government.”

"This sentence demonstrates that the VA OIG and our law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue those who defraud VA," said Special Agent in Charge Nate Landkammer of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General's Mid-Atlantic Field Office. "We remain steadfast in safeguarding the integrity of VA's Post-9/11 GI Bill. The VA OIG’s mission includes vigorously investigating fraud and ensuring that individuals who abuse these crucial benefit programs are brought to justice."

This case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the VA-Office of Inspector General (OIG) with assistance from the Veterans Benefits Administration-Education Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Arvin prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.