louisiana ppp loan arrests

Louisiana Department of Revenue Identity Theft Affidavit, Louisiana Workforce Commission Suspected Fraud Form. Given the focus of the PPP to support employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Robinson Bradshaw firm wrote last May, it is easy to imagine how a dissatisfied employee observing imperfect business conduct in securing a PPP loan or applying loan proceeds could use that insider information to bring a qui tam action under the FCA.. In addition, the defendants falsely listed the same employees in applications for different nail salons to support the loan amounts applied for, and some purported employees were listed as employees of as many as seven different nail salons during the same time period. And this is not the only case. 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. Suspicious activity reports for small business loan fraud continued at levels far higher than normal through the end of 2020, according to POGOs review of federal data. So now, he says agencies must go after anyone who might be taking money theyre not entitled to. It was this difficult road that we had about a week, but our bankers got it done and, and our businesswomen and businessmen stepped up to the plate and took advantage of it, said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. of Loans Jobs Retained Todays Internet search for PPP Loan Fraud Arrests will certainly produce an unwanted result one that includes the name of their company leading the headlines., IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen said: In this difficult time when many Americans are struggling financially, it is repugnant that there are those who would fraudulently take advantage of relief efforts offered. For much of 2020, the agency also issued grants of up to $10,000 under the program that do not have to be repaid by eligible recipients. Babysitter arrested after 5-year-old fatally shot by 6-year-old cousin. (In late March, the Justice Department told Congress that it had charged $446.8 million in losses related to PPP. Some of these cases may still be under seal and charges are routinely being unsealed.) The oversight failures of the last year have become increasingly clear, eventually leading to changes. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. A locked padlock In less than six months, more than 50 people have been charged with allegedly committing fraud in connection with the program. In Louisiana, a federal grand jury recently indicted a Plaquemine woman named Lestreonia Rodrigue on fraud charges. Gibsland Bank & Trust Company. First Home Bank approved the $8.4 million loan, among the less than 0.1% of Paycheck Protection Program loans this large or larger (the maximum is $10 million). Published 8:46 am Sunday, September 11, 2022 . Eastern District of Louisiana Filed under investigation More due diligence on the part of lenders or the Small Business Administration could have prevented at least some instances of fraud. 2020 Louisiana Individual Income Tax returns and payments are due Monday, May 17, 2021. If Congress amends the underutilized Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, efforts by inspectors general to fight fraud in pandemic related spending would be enhanced, according to Horowitzs testimony. The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. PPP Loans in Raceland, LA - Page 13. From at least in or about April 2020 through at least in or about June 2020, NGUYEN, VICTORIA HO, and DAT HO engaged in a scheme to submit online applications to at least two financial institutions for a total of over $13 million in government-guaranteed loans for the Victoria Companies through the SBAs PPP. The Department of Justice says in Feb. 2021, Gray created a scheme to defraud a lender and the United States, through the Small Business Administration, by filing false applications for PPP. However, both Kennedy and Ricks say the good the program did far outweigh any possible fraud. 61000. Data analysts at the inspector generals office have been combing through Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster loan data to look for markers of potential fraud, such as repeat loan applicants from the same physical addresses, Grossman told POGO. In email and text exchanges, defendants acknowledged that a number of the companies did no legitimate business, disqualifying them from receiving the loans. (WAFB) - The Paycheck Protection Program, known as PPP, provided a lifeline for millions of business owners when the pandemic was at its worst. Act 311 of the 2020 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature allocated federal CARES Act funds to provide grants of up to $15,000 to eligible small businesses through a program administered by the Louisiana Department of Treasury. The Department of Justice (DOJ) says as of Aug. 8, more than 5.2 million forgivable loans have been approved, at a total of more than $525 billion. The SBA Employee would and did use her access to the SBAs computer systems and her access to EIDLs to manipulate the status of EIDLs to trigger the system to extend funding for EIDLs submitted for the benefit for Joel Micah Greenberg, the indictment alleges. Representative James Clyburn (D-SC), chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, said in the March 25 hearing that the Trump administration ignored flags of potential fraud in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, and approved loans in batches with little to no vetting and abandoned a rule that required two SBA employees to approve each loan application., The Trump administration ignored flags of potential fraud, While a year has passed since the CARES Act became law and there are more checks now, government watchdogs say the Small Business Administrations oversight of the lending programs is still inadequate. 3 Defendants Arrested For Over $13 Million Fraud Scheme To Obtain Loans Intended To Help Small Businesses During COVID-19 Pandemic 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 She's accused of making up fake businesses to collect more than $20,000 through. Maurice Kamgaing, 41 sent PPP loan . Many Paycheck Protection Program loans appear to have been issued to recipients who were not eligible under the programs rules. Public Information Director portville central school yearbooks; jennette mccurdy astroseek. When the bank froze the funds, they froze as well, conducting Internet searches for topics related to PPP fraud. This March, the Government Accountability Office revealed that 4 months after SBA started using a system to approve Economic Injury Disaster loans in batches, agency officials realized this system contained alerts that should have been reviewed by loan officers, but had not been. During the programs first round, the Small Business Administration issued 5.2 million loans between April and August 2020. The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Offices Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. louisiana ppp loan arrestsanxiety support groups columbia, sc Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation fidelity express money order refund thamani ya rupia ya mjerumani The addresses listed for the two companies, according to SBA loan data, also do not match the addresses in the states corporation recordsyet another sign of potential fraud. I want to thank the U.S. Attorneys Office and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and commitment to seeing justice served., FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr said: The benefits offered by the CARES Act for PPP loans were established to help small businesses survive during the pandemic. The DOJ says falsified tax records were submitted and in some cases, stolen personal information was also used in these attempts to defraud the PPP. EVERY primarily used Cash App to receive the initial payments. One percent of the recovery acts $501 billion in spending would be about $5 billion. The loans have to be repaid with low interest. Loans through that program were directly processed by the Small Business Administration, while in the Paycheck Protection Program, loans were primarily processed by banks and other lenders. You can search the SBA's entire PPP loan data below. Ryan Summers is a research fellow for POGO. The CARES Act provided $600 weekly supplemental unemployment benefits for individuals out of work for reasons related to the pandemic. An October inspector general report states that SBA has fired employees and contractors who were involved in approving loans to themselves or who inappropriately influenced loan approval. The Small Business Administration did not respond to questions, but a spokesperson for the agencys inspector general told POGO that we are aware of one employee and two contractors who have been fired for these reasons. Too often those who fraudulently divert tax dollars in amounts below what is typically accepted by prosecutors are not fully held accountable, impacting agency programs and leaving the taxpayer footing the bill, he wrote. That situation may arise in cases of apparent fraud involving Economic Injury Disaster loan advance grants of $10,000 or less. And these cases are just the beginning. Has the curve flatten in my town? Each loan paid out was guaranteed using taxpayer money. Allegedly misrepresenting the number of employees on their payroll to obtain the funding, they deposited this money into accounts controlled solely by them. If youre going to steal money, finite resources from people who need them, then, by God, were going to prosecute you.. The CARES Act precluded the agency from exercising one important check on fraud in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Otherwise, the borrower is on the hook for the money. The line is staffed 24/7. The payments are refundable tax credits and are not considered taxable income for federal or state tax purposes. In certified submissions to the federal government, the familys ministry claimed a substantial operation with 486 employees, a monthly payroll of over $2.76 million, and revenue exceeding $51 million in 2019. to give the federal government time to investigate and evaluate the complaint before it becomes public. The PPP loan forgiveness is not subject to Louisiana state income tax. 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 In order to support the false representations in the loan applications about the number of employees at, and the wages paid by, the Victoria Companies, the defendants submitted fraudulent and doctored payroll and tax records. Unfortunately, the owners of Victoria Nails & Spa saw this program as their own personal piggy bank. But in March 2021, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General issued a report that found that lenders last year issued more than one Paycheck Protection Program loan to 4,260 borrowers with the same tax identification number and borrowers with the same business name and address. Those loans were worth a total of $692 million. In other words, lenders and the Small Business Administration did not prevent the alleged fraud in these instances before taxpayer dollars went out the door. Vance's (R-Ohio) call for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)-style plan to help workers and businesses affected by the East Palestine train . BATON ROUGE, La. For media inquiries, contact: After the defendants learned that a hold was placed on bank accounts of the Victoria Companies that received PPP loans issued by one financial institution due to suspicion of fraudulent activity, one of the defendants conducted Internet searches for PPP Fraud, PPP Loan Fraud Arrests, and How to get rid of a PPP Loan. The defendants thereafter withdrew the applications for and/or repaid the PPP loans for the Victoria Companies issued by that financial institution. As far as the state of Louisiana is concerned, there is no requirement that a sole proprietor have a specific license at the state, said Ricks. Qui tam complaints are filed under seal EVERY then charged approximately $3,500.00 once the loans were funded. All rights reserved. Ryan Summers 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. There are many potential cases the Justice Department may not prosecute. Click on a company's name to see additional loan details. If convicted, EVERY faces a maximum penalty of twenty (20) years, followed by a term of supervised release for up to three (3) years, a fine up to $250,000.00, or twice the gross gain to the defendant, or twice the gross loss to any victim, and a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee, per count. Louisiana has a total of 217,332 businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the Small Business Administration. An indictment includes text and email messages involving creating tax records for some of the companies. You have to understand from the lenders perspective, really, theyre just looking at income. The involvement of a Small Business Administration employee in a pandemic loan fraud case raises questions about the agencys vetting of employees. Federal investigators cannot comment on active investigations or give an estimate on how much fraud may have occurred through federal pandemic relief programs, but a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Middle District of Louisiana confirms there were fraudulent applications submitted in Louisiana through several relief programs including the PPP. Created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Paycheck Protection Program has lent out $755 billion to businesses as of April 11. , eventually leading to changes using taxpayer money searches for topics related to the pandemic oversight failures of recovery! A federal grand jury recently indicted a Plaquemine woman named Lestreonia Rodrigue on charges. 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