louisiana ppp loan arrests

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today the indictment of SHARNAE EVERY (EVERY), age 27, of Houston, Texas, who was charged with one (1) count of Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349 and two (2) counts of Mail Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. Search arrest records and find latests mugshots and bookings for Misdemeanors and Felonies. The Department of Justice, and in particular my office here in the Middle District of Louisiana, is committed to investigating and prosecuting those who abuse the system for personal gain and will use every resource at our disposal to protect those federal dollars and the businesses they are intended to help. In connection with loan applications for COVID-19 relief available from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the SBA, the defendants falsely and grossly overstated the number of employees and payroll at their nail salons and other businesses through fraudulent and doctored payroll and tax records in order to obtain larger loans. On January 11, in the final days of the Trump administration, the Small Business Administration began processing a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans. An official website of the United States government. Data is available, but its reliability for the purpose of assessing whether Paycheck Protection Program loans are reaching the underserved communities that Congress wanted prioritized is limited because the demographic data is incomplete. That watchdog office has recommended that the agency use data analysis as a means to detect potentially ineligible and fraudulent applications.. But according to the Justice Department, neither company paid anywhere near the purported amounts and had few if any employees. Kindambu pleaded guilty in January. Congress reversed course when it passed a new law on December 27, which authorized more coronavirus loans. EVERY charged $45.00 to $120.00 from the individuals she recruited to prepare and submit the fraudulent PPP application. (WAFB) - Since the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) launched to help businesses pay their employees to prevent great losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some people have of course tried to exploit the program and defraud the federal government of money. The lender got to keep a fee based on the size of the loan. 66625. The offices 44 investigators have been working at least three times the caseload that theyre usually used to working. The FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and other offices of inspectors general are also part of the federal law enforcement effort. According to the allegations contained in the Complaint[1] unsealed today in Manhattan federal court: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To support his loan applications, Kindambu claimed that Papillon Holdings had $150,000 in monthly payroll expenses and that Papillon Air had over $850,000 in monthly payroll expenses. Vance's (R-Ohio) call for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)-style plan to help workers and businesses affected by the East Palestine train . One St. Andrews Plaza - New York, NY 10007, Three Family Members Arrested for Misrepresenting Employee Payroll Figures to Receive COVID-19 Loan Funds for Chain of Family-Owned Nail Salons in New York Metropolitan Area and Other Businesses, James Margolin, Nicholas Biase Under the False Claims Act (FCA) as well as the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), either the government or whistleblowers with non-public information can initiate civil enforcement actions. Government Accountability Office revealed, according to Shear of the Government Accountability Office, the Justice Department unveiled new charges, Greenberg bribed an unnamed Small Business Administration insider, according to the Government Accountability Office, 5.8 million advance grants worth $20 billion, underutilized Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), first settlement in a Paycheck Protection Program civil enforcement case, remarks before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, revamped the Paycheck Protection Program loan application, for the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Lamborghinis, Strip Clubs, Bogus Companies, and Lies, Spike in Suspected Business Loan Fraud Reports Coincided with Paycheck Protection Program, How a Ukrainian Oligarchs Companies Got Paycheck Protection Program Loans. If someone defaults, or cant pay it back, the SBA will still reimburse the lender. More due diligence on the part of lenders or the Small Business Administration could have prevented at least some instances of fraud, especially when applicants appear to have inflated or fabricated payroll expenses or used defunct or bogus companies to illicitly obtain loans. However, industry insiders say the barbershop industry is largely cash-based, making it easy to operate under the radar. In connection with these loan applications, the defendants falsely and grossly overstated the number of employees at the Victoria Companies and wages paid to those employees in order to obtain larger loans. Pursuant to the CARES Act, the amount of PPP funds a business is eligible to receive is determined by the number of employees employed by the business and their average payroll costs. Greenbergs insider was a loan officer who began working for the agency in May 2020. EVERY received these funds into her Current account, her Cash App account, or into her boyfriends Current account. According to the MITRE Corporation, a mismatched zip code or insufficient award description doesnt seem particularly egregious. Yet if there is sufficient evidence, the government can still seize stolen money even in the absence of criminal charges. The CARES Act precluded the agency from exercising one important check on fraud in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. And I, I think we ought to prosecute every single one of them to the full extent of the law, said Kennedy. Horowitz, the Justice Departments inspector general, recently testified to a House panel examining COVID-19 loan fraud that a legislative reform could help address the problem of fraud in smaller dollar amounts. In Louisiana, a federal grand jury recently indicted a Plaquemine woman named Lestreonia Rodrigue on fraud charges. But the government could have implemented these safeguards from the beginning, which may have prevented significant levels of apparent fraud in the program. The nonprofit MITRE Corporation found more than 85% of Paycheck Protection Program loan recipients did not indicate their race or ethnicity in their loan applications, Earlier this year, the Biden administration revamped the Paycheck Protection Program loan application to encourage self-reporting of demographic data and better illustrate the impact the PPP is having across various population segments. But the Small Business Administration acknowledged, as of late March, there is still limited demographic data on PPP borrowers.. EVERY created all of the false and fraudulent invoices, bank statements, and Schedule Cs. All rights reserved. In less than six months, more than 50 people have been charged with allegedly committing fraud in connection with the program. Aqeel used some of the proceeds to purchase a Lamborghini sports car, according to the Justice Department. The oversight failures of the last year have become increasingly clear, eventually leading to changes. Sah, who pleaded guilty on March 24, used the funds to buy a Bentley convertible and multiple homes, among other things. An Archdale man was arrested after authorities say he falsely received more than $1.5 million in COVID-19 relief money through the Paycheck Protection Program. And if theyre not interested in prosecuting, for whatever reason, we dont further pursue it at that time., Many of the cases are moving quickly, despite their complexity. Copyright 2021 WAFB. These cases further highlight the ways individuals appear to have taken advantage of lax oversight in the program. In fraud cases where there is no apparent misuse of a loan, civil enforcement may be more likely than criminal prosecution. 61000. The law firm K&L Gates, however, wrote in December that since Congress allowed lenders to rely on borrowers self-certified information, that should decrease the likelihood that otherwise law abiding financial service providers would face government scrutiny for the fraudulent acts of their borrowers., The role of employees who become whistleblowers may emerge as a significant factor in civil Paycheck Protection Program cases. New Orleans, Louisiana 70130. . (212) 637-2600, Human Trafficking & Child Sexual Exploitation, Department of Justice Harassment Prevention Resource, Download Ngoc Manh Nguyen et al. For more information on the Department of Justices response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Funds disseminated through this program, The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) established by the CARES Act, provides small businesses with funding for payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities. Congress also authorized the Small Business Administrations existing Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program to lend in response to the pandemic, and nearly $202 billion in loans through that program have been approved as of April 1. As the lending programs ramped up last summer, there was a spike in suspicious activity reports from banks and other lenders flagging potential fraud. The payments are refundable tax credits and are not considered taxable income for federal or state tax purposes. The PPP loan forgiveness is not subject to Louisiana state income tax. Origin Bank. SBA has fired employees and contractors who were involved in approving loans to themselves or who inappropriately influenced loan approval. He also opened bank accounts and lines of credit at financial institutions and credit card companies in the names of his elderly victims, according to the Justice Department. Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, Eastern Region Special Agent-in-Charge of the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA-OIG), William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announced today the arrests of NGOC MANH NGUYEN, a/k/a Peter Nguyen, VICTORIA DIEUY HO, a/k/a Vicky Ho, and DAT TAT HO for a fraudulent scheme to obtain over $13 million in Government-guaranteed loans designed to provide relief to small businesses during the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. 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