The case was brought in Houston, Texas. The case was brought in Los Angeles, California. Together, more than 5.5 million PPP loans were approved totaling more than $557.8 billion. Gregory J. Blotnick was charged with eight counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering. Mr. Ho was found guilty on all charges. The case was brought in Sherman, Texas. Mr. Robinson pleaded not guilty on December 18, 2020, and his trial is scheduled for August 8, 2022. The case was brought in Washington, D.C. On March 2, 2022, Mr. Gaughan pleaded guilty to wire fraud in one case and engaging in monetary transactions in the other case. Both defendants pleaded guilty on June 24, 2022. The case was brought in Las Vega, Nevada. Their sentencing date has not been scheduled at this time. Mr. Lopez has pleaded guilty, and his sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 21, 2022. Jerrica Rosado was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Raji was sentenced to 70 months in prison on Mary 20, 2022, and Lawals is scheduled to be sentenced on August 24, 2022. Mr. McBreairty pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 years of probation, with the first 6 months to be served on home confinement. The case was brought in Fort Lauderdale. On June 9, 2021, Ms. Terry pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements on a loan application and one count of money laundering. On November 15, 2021, Richard Ayvazyan was sentenced to 17 years and Marietta Terabelian was sentenced to 72 months in prison. PPP loans and fraud - the red flags that could have been spotted Amanda DuPont September 09, 2021 6 min Approximately $800 billion went out in the CARES Act's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), providing nearly 12 million loans between April 2020 and May 2021 to U.S. businesses. On June 2, 2021, Ms. Stanley was sentenced to 18 months in prison. On January 26, 2021, Mr. Magana pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 41 months in prison on April 18, 2022. Investigations by the DOJ and U.S. PPP loan fraud investigations are on the rise across the country. On October 12, 2021, Mr. Moller was sentenced to 70 months in prison. Denesseria Slaton was charged separately and has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. The Government alleged that Mr. Ridge submitted fraudulent loan applications seeking almost $500,000 in COVID-19 relief loans, of which he obtained $160,000. The case was brought in Atlanta, Georgia. He was sentenced to 51 months in prison. The case was brought in Newark, New Jersey and it is currently pending. On June 28, 2021, after a 9-day jury trial, Richard Ayvazyan, Marietta Terabelian, and Artur Ayvazyan were found guilty. Sean Schoepflin and Erika Leon were charged with wire fraud and transactional money laundering. The case was brought in Greenbelt, Maryland. Ganell Tubbs was charged with two counts of bank fraud, loan application fraud, and money laundering. On March 11, 2021, Bern Benoit pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. He was sentenced to 135 months in prison on July 19, 2022. The Government alleged that Mr. Okojie submitted at least 8 fraudulent loan applications for companies that did not exist seeking millions in COVID-19 relief funds. This case was brought in Aberdeen, Mississippi. The Government alleged that the defendants submitted fraudulent tax documents to seek over $100,000 in COVID-19 relief funds. Smith pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 months in prison on December 16, 2021. Some people have already been convicted, while others are being secretly investigated. Mr. Kasali was sentenced to 70 months in prison on April 7, 2022. Mr. McLeod and Ms. Wilson have both pleaded guilty. Mr. Criss pled guilty and was sentenced to 10 months in prison on November 1, 2021. Casey Crowther was charged with multiple counts of bank fraud, making false statements on a loan application, and money laundering. The Government alleged that Ms. Norton submitted fraudulent loan applications seeking over $7.7 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Christina McConnell was charged with two counts of illegal monetary transactions. On September 29, 2021, Charles Hill pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and he was sentenced to probation for 5 years, with the first 27 months to be served on home detention on January 12, 2022. Michael Moller was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to the SBA. On September 16, 2021, Mr. Shah was sentenced to 31 months in prison. On May 19, 2021, Mr. Shah pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. The Government alleged that Mr. Cherry submitted fraudulent loan applications and obtained $190,000 in COVID-19 relief funds. Phillip Augustin was charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, attempt and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and obstruction of justice. Darius McCants was charged with attempt and conspiracy and multiple counts of wire fraud. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Serving clients across the United States This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. The Government alleged that Mr. VanScoyk and Mr. Fiedler conspired to submit fraudulent loan applications seeking almost $3 million in COVID-19 relief funds, of which they received around $1.2 million. The Government alleged that that Ms. Williams submitted fraudulent loan applications seeking $137,500 in COVID-19 relief funds. Because PPP lending is closed to new applications, SBA's challenge is to effectively handle potentially fraudulent PPP loans to reduce the risk of financial loss and ensure only eligible borrowers receive forgiveness in accordance with program requirements. The case was brought in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Israyelyan pleaded guilty on March 18, 2022, and his sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for September 19, 2022. Andre McBreairty was charged with false statements. The case was brought in Los Angeles, California. The Government alleged that Mr. Yates the sole proprietor of Lone Star Tuning submitted fraudulent loan applications obtaining approximately $5,700,000.00 in COVD-19 relief funds. The case was brought in Norfolk, Virginia. Called PPP for short, the program offered simple-to-get . On March 24, 2022, Ms. Cartwright-Powers was sentenced to 20 months in prison. Darius Hollis was charged with wire fraud. Mr. Malanga pleaded guilty on June 28, 2022, and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 2, 2022. Our federal defense lawyers are representing companies nationwide in PPP loan fraud audits and investigations during the COVID-19 crisis. On November 2, 2021, she was sentenced to 78 months in prison. The case was brought in Brooklyn, New York. The Government alleged that the defendants conspired to submit fraudulent loan applications and obtain over $3 million in COVID-19 relief funds. The Government alleged Edwards and Richardson submitted fraudulent loan applications obtaining over $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds. E! The case was brought in Detroit, Michigan. Ms. Kirkland pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 33 months in prison. prevent identity theft and provide assistance to victims of Unemployment Insurance and PPP loan fraud. Data last refreshed on 1/31/2022. The Government alleged that Mr. Gaughan submitted fraudulent loan applications seeking approximately $2.1 million in COVID-19 relief funds. The case was brought in Wilmington, Delaware. The case was brought in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Tolliver pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in November 2021 and his trial is currently scheduled for December 19, 2022. The Government alleged that Mr. McLeod and Ms. Wilson submitted fraudulent loan applications seeking $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Lakisha Swope and Treisha Pearson were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The case was brought in Foley Square, New York and is pending. The case was brought in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Artur Chanchikyan was charged with wire fraud, theft of government property and concealment money laundering. The case was brought in Miami, Florida. The case was brought in Boston, Massachusetts. This case was brought in Portland, Oregon. The Government alleged that the Kwaks submitted fraudulent loan applications on behalf of several shell companies to obtain over $4 million in COVID-19 relief funds. The Government alleged that the two businessmen submitted fraudulent loan applications seeking over $500,000. The case was brought in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Government filed a criminal complaint on October 11, 2021. Kenneth Gaughan was charged with bank fraud, theft of government funds, identity fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. She is scheduled to be sentenced on December 6, 2021. This list is organized by the date charges were filed, and only includes cases that have been indicted or charged by information. The DOJ is targeting individuals and businesses in PPP loan fraud investigations, and it is targeting those who received loans of all sizes. Juliana Martins was charged with false statements and theft of government money. Myrna Ortiz was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and over 30 counts of conversion of government funds. Ms. Johnson pleaded guilty on February 16, 2022, and she is scheduled to be sentenced on September 15, 2022. Jorge Abramovs was charged with bank fraud, false statement to a financial institution, and monetary transactions in criminally derived property. The Government alleged that Mr. Davis submitted fraudulent loan applications for business entities Skilled Trade Investments, LP, Skilled Trade Staffing, LLC and Skilled Trade Investments GP, LLC obtaining approximately $3,346,813.00 in COVID-19 relief funds. Mr. Smith pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. His sentencing is scheduled for December 15, 2021. The Government alleged that Mr. McGee, along with 21 other individuals, conspired to submit fraudulent loan applications seeking over $3.8 million in COVID-19 relief funds. He was sentenced to 57 months in prison on February 2, 2022. Mr. Shah has pleaded not guilty. On January 31, 2022, Ms. Ford-Victory pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy. There are, of course, many other CARES Act fraud investigations currently pending that may later result in criminal charges. The Government alleged that Mr. Knight submitted fraudulent loan applications and obtained $149,900 in COVID-19 relief funds. The case was brought in Atlanta, Georgia. Petty submitted fraudulent loan applications seeking $155,000 in COVID-19 relief funds. Chung pleaded guilty on March 11, 2021, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison on March 1, 2022. Ms. Durhart was sentenced to 96 months in prison on June 23, 2022. He was sentenced to 80 months in prison on March 3, 2022. The Government alleged that Mr. Brown filed fraudulent loan applications seeking over $60,000 in COVID-19 relief funds.