Researchers estimate that $76 billion in PPP loan money was taken illicitly. Seven Charged in Fraud Ring (South Carolina September 10), 47. A $106K Mercedes and a Ford F-250 (Florida October 23), 61. Miami Wannabe Farmers (Florida August 26), 40. Firm's lawyers are only licensed to practice state law in the states mentioned in their respective biographies. He allegedly certified that his business was operating as of February 15, 2020 (a requirement of the law) and had 247 employees, but didnt even set up a company entity until a few days before applying for the PPP loan. Subsequently, upon receiving PPP loans (or, ideally, in anticipation of receiving a PPP loan), companies should adopt policies and procedures that are designed to ensure continual PPP compliance. (March 30), Consolidated Augusta government's American Rescue Plan payment doubles to $84 million, Why the Small Business Administration loan program frustrates borrowers, Augusta-area physicians, clinics also able to tap into PPP loans, Click here to search our PPP loan database, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Auto Repair Shop Owner (California June 5), 11. How to apply for a loan on your ownhttps://bench.co/blog/operations/how-to-apply-first-ppp-loan/ In such a case, a client will sign an engagement exclusively with the Local Counsel. They allegedly used the proceeds to make down payments on personal homes. Diverted Funds to Relatives and Minor Children (New Jersey November 19), 70. Richard B. Russell Federal Building Kao allegedly transferred $2 million to personal accounts. Specifically, if and when Firm cooperates with Local Counsel, Firm will disclose the details to the client in writing for their approval. Lock Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Clients and prospective clients should be aware that when referencing to Firm's experience, this experience may combine the knowledge and experience of both Firm and its frequently used Local Counsel in the aggregate. A crucial aspect of the PPP is that companies are only allowed to use the funds they receive for specific authorized purposes. Allegedly he submitted fake IRS 1099 Forms containing worker social security numbers that were invalid. The allegations say he submitted fake IRS documentation. Main Office: How does the government miss a well know con artist? All visitors to this Website are informed that Oberheiden P.C. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Andre Lee Gaines, 67, of Dallas - pleaded guilty on June 17, 2021 to one count of making false statements to the FBI in connection with the loan obtained by his business, Gaines Reservation and Travel. We will work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the EIDL and PPP and to help small businesses stay afloat., The COVID-19 pandemic has caused financial hardships for many hardworking business owners across the nation. 22-Year Old Hair Extensions Entrepreneur (Texas September 15), 50. Fraudulent Loans List :: PPP Detective Fraudulent Loans List These loans have been flagged by other users as potentially being fraudulent. Lavanture allegedly went on a spending spree and bought a motel and also an 8.54-acre estate with a Tuscan-style mansion on it. What are the Red Flags for PPP Loan Fraud? Then turns around and starts writing checks to Lamborghini dealerships. On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. He allegedly used those funds to buy a 33-foot Cruisers Yacht for $300,000, a $1.13 million rowhouse, and a $46,000 luxury Kia Stinger. She allegedly claimed to have 73 employees at her Dayton private investigation company. Three people she allegedly claimed as staff told investigators they never heard of her company. He also allegedly submitted forged tax documents. Authorities allege they falsely claimed to be farmers in the yards of their small homes. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]. These Local Counsel may assist the Firm on a case-by-case basis, operate their own respective law firms, are independent of Firm, and are not partners, owners, of counsel, or employees of Firm. Sum of Undisburse Amount. Nurse Charged for Defrauding COVID-19 Relief Programs (Florida January 8, 2021), 78. However, none of the businesses had any legitimate business with any of the businesses or accounts to which they sent the proceeds. Celestine Coletta Strong, Jawuan Polk, Patrick Earl Lewis, and Tyzhaun Marqui Lewis were charged in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain PPP funds. You can search and filter the list, but only flagged loans will be shown. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. 18, 2021 at 1:24 PM EDT Purchased a Luxury Mercedes E400 (Arizona December 17), 74. He allegedly used aliases to obtain $8.5 million in aid using fake tax filings and falsified records of payroll costs. Find an attorney to defend youhttps://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/white-collar-crimes Former Police Officer Sentenced For Money Laundering. Rafael Maturino and Winston James were charged separately but allegedly worked together to carry out their scheme. When arrested, he had almost $80,000 in cash at his home and $9,400 in his pocket, authorities claim. Man Charged with Identity Theft (Florida August 10), 34. Miles allegedly used the gains to purchase a Bentley and Cadillac, and withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars. Along with its application requirements, the CARES Act also establishes requirements for how companies use, and account for the use of, PPP loan funds. As part of their crimes, the defendants not only submitted false information for the business loans, but for the PPP, they also allegedly created fake Internal Revenue Service documentation to support the applications. 75 Ted Turner Dr. SW After two banks declined, Rowberry allegedly said she would help him re-apply through a friend. He allegedly applied for $441,000 under the Federal Paycheck Protection program. The OMelveny law firm noted: if history is a guide, DOJ will use its leverage over institutions that processed the loans to do the governments initial work of identifying potential irregularities in loan applications. Charged were: Darrell Thomas, Andre Lee Gaines and Carla Jackson of Georgia; Kahlil Gibran Green Sr. of Ohio; and Bern Benoit of California. Are you personally at risk as a company owner, board member, executive? Are you at risk? Also, the EIDL loan application date has been extended through 2021. However, in conjunction with the submission of an EIDL application, by having clicked on and checked a box within the on-line application, an applicant could request and then receive up to $10,000.00, an EIDL Advance which did not have to be repaid. The two allegedly worked together on the scheme (mighty neighborly of them!). The only way to get more money than that is to either 1) claim to have employees that you didn't really have, or 2) inflate your earnings amount on the application. In connection with the investigation, the United States seized nearly $4 million in PPP loan proceeds, four luxury vehicles, and several jewelry items. As part of his guilty plea, Darrell Thomas admitted his participation in fraudulent conduct totaling more than $14.7 million, including more than $11.1 million in fraudulent PPP loans, more than $1.15 million in fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and more than $2.4 million in fraudulent automobile loans. On Jan. 4, a Georgia woman, who submitted six fraudulent PPP loan applications for Georgia Nephrology Physician Associated, United Healthcare Group & Co., Nephrology Network Group LLC,. Rich Smith 31.3K subscribers Subscribe 110K views 1 year ago Here's a breakdown of the PPP Loan Fraud List and who got a PPP Loan.. Cherry was on supervised release in an unrelated federal case when he applied to the Small Business Administration program. India Middleton, 34, of Accokeek, Maryland. The former manager of the San Francisco Hilton allegedly embezzled from the hotel in a kickback scheme going back to 2013. Its a scary thing for legitimate business owners to sign borrower certifications under potential penalties of fines and prison time. . In that same time frame, Lawson allegedly submitted 11 fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of many of the same individuals in an attempt to obtain at least $224,000. The charges allege he applied several times to get aid totaling $3 million, in the names of businesses with no actual operations. Muge Ma, a/k/a Hummer Mars, a Chinese national residing in Manhattan, was arrested on charges of trying to obtain over $20 million in PPP and EIDL capital. US Attorney's Office for Middle District of Ga. investigates high volume of PPP loan fraud By Jessie Gibson Published : Jun. Our searchable databaseallows users to look up dollar allotments by industry, and lenders. When Williams received the funds, he allegedly tried to launder the money by transferring it to different accounts. Goldstein allegedly transferred $355,000 in his personal bank account. Fewer than 150 defendants out of of over 5.2 million loans is a minuscule percentage. Joseph Cherry II of Virginia was indicted on 10 counts of COVID fraud and faces 10 to 30 years of prison time on each count. Find an attorney to help you obtain a loanhttps://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/business-commercial-law It is alleged he got over $190,000 in proceeds and managed to withdraw cash or cashiers checks for $140,000. To this end, all companies that received PPP loans would be well-advised to proactively conduct an internal PPP compliance investigation. Darrell Thomas, 35, of Duluth - pleaded guilty on June 16, 2021 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud and one count of money laundering. bank fraud, making false statements to an FDIC-insured financial institution, or making false statements to the SBA). James McFarland, 56, of Atlanta, Georgia. Two Men, Identity Theft and a Conspiracy (Rhode Island May 5, 2020), 3. Lauren Marcel Duhart, Joshua Bernard Smith, Steve Ronald Lewis, Christopher J. Agard, Henry Duffield, Jeremy Brandon Latourneau, Derick Keane were charged in an indictment with laundering $750,000 obtained fraudulently, including over $390,000 from a PPP loan. The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. I did too!! We Will Protect Your Rights, Reputation and Freedom. The overwhelming majority of small businesses have no allegations of Paycheck Protection Program fraud. He then went on a buying extravaganza, spending on a Tesla, a Bentley, two condominiums, and paying his home mortgage. They allegedly discussed their fraud in email and one assumed the identity of his own brother. Our mission is to bring you "Small business success delivered daily.". The complaint alleges Smith bought a $96K Ferrari and other luxury items and withdrew $271,805 in loan proceeds. Jesika Blakely, 34, of Atlanta, Georgia, is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured financial institution, and money laundering in connection with her involvement in several businesses loans. Gwinnett County man accused fraudulently filing for millions in PPP loans This comes as federal prosecutors in Georgia continue to make new arrests for PPP fraud. Medical Company Owner (Florida July 10), 23. Evasiveness and inability (or unwillingness) to produce documentation of PPP compliance is a major red flag for fraud as well. According to the SBA, thePaycheck Protection Program ended on May 31, 2021. "Along with our federal, state and local law enforcement [] Ophthalmologist Already Under Indictment (New York June 24), 19. An official website of the United States government. Charges were recently brought against several celebrities, entertainers and business leaders in Georgia for allegedly defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program for a total of more than $3. Terrence Deshun Williams, named one of Floridas high school basketball coaches of the year, was charged with fraudulently obtaining $984,710 in PPP loan money for a consulting company. Here's a list of the PPP loan prosecutions to date: 1. Transferred $335k to Personal Accounts (California -October 29), 63. To speak with one of our senior federal compliance and defense attorneys in confidence, call 888-680-1745 or request a free PPP risk assessment online now. The GAO also recommended auditing COVID-19 unemployment benefits paid to workers rehired through the loans. In July, the Feds seized $866,019 from his bank accounts. You can also check to see how many workers companies receiving the assistance said they kept on the payroll. Sandra D. Smith has been arraigned on federal charges of wire fraud and theft of government funds. Dr. Nick Oberheiden is a nationally recognized expert on PPP loan laws. In April he allegedly obtained a PPP loan of $1.7 million by falsely certifying that GMP Cars had staff for whom it paid salaries and payroll taxes. A Porsche and Lamborghini (Texas November 17), 68. The government was able to seize $6.5 million. Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans have aided more than 5.2 million small business owners, providing a much-needed lifeline during the Coronavirus outbreak crisis. Attorney Buys Million Dollar Home (New Jersey September 2), 45. Dinesh Sah of Dallas was indicted on charges he filed 15 fraudulent loan applications to 8 lenders in the total amount of $24.8 million. If you dont know, those are characters from the Game of Thrones TV series. However, we have created a list of PPP resources that should help you with any challenges that you might have. Attorneys, including the Fraud Section, have resulted in a variety of charges, including wire fraud (18 U.S.C. Businesses that have to repay the loan get 2 years to repay if funding was issued before June 5. Now they are getting another PPP Loan to go on more trips and buy more things for themselves.They posted on their Facebook all their trips and everything they bought.They went from renting a house to buying a house in cash.They dont even have EmployeesWow this is wrong. Its intended to offer news and peer perspective on an important issue that affects us as business owners. This owner of a wedding planning company is charged with submitting two PPP applications, and claiming to have 120 employees when he actually had none. When the SBA-OIG or DOJ launches an investigation, executing an effective and timely defense is imperative. Received the funds, he had almost $ 80,000 in cash at his and! 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