louisiana ppp loan arrests

On March 30, the Justice Department unveiled new charges against Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector. In Louisiana, a federal grand jury recently indicted a Plaquemine woman named Lestreonia Rodrigue on fraud charges. The number of potentially questionable loans approved through these programs is vast, as will be the task of determining how many of those loans were fraudulent or otherwise improper. Shes accused of making up fake businesses to collect more than $20,000 through a PPP loan and another $500,000 in prepaid debit cards through unemployment claims. Ryan Summers is a research fellow for POGO. PPP Loan Recipient List By State Louisiana 217,332 TOTAL PPP LOANS $12.2B TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT $56,095 AVERAGE PPP LOAN 6 AVG COMPANY SIZE Louisiana has a total of 217,332 businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the Small Business Administration. Identity theft is probably the most common underlying cause of the fraud that were finding, particularly in the EIDL program, SBA Inspector General Hannibal Mike Ware said in testimony before Congress in late March. The Small Business Administration has released a list of businesses that have received emergency pandemic loans. An estimated 1% of that 2009 stimulus was lost to fraud (some claim the rate is even lower than that). This case was brought in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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. Thats more than 10 times the fraud recoveries five years after the 2009 stimulus became law. Federal investigators want you to speak up about PPP fraud, Federal investigators want you to speak up about PPP Fraud, LSU WR Malik Nabers arrested in New Orleans; prosecutors refuse to charge with condition, LPSO: Deputy arrested, terminated after making harassing phone calls, TikTok sets new default time limits for minors, Fight involving 9 people on Southerns campus leads to 1 arrest. U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. EVERY charged $45.00 to $120.00 from the individuals she recruited to prepare and submit the fraudulent PPP application. According to Grossman, the Small Business Administration watchdog official, all of our ongoing investigations involve individual borrowers rather than lenders. While the Small Business Administration could be doing more with data on the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, the agencys independent watchdog has embraced this work. Have a question about Government Services? 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. That story of corruption inside SBA has been overshadowed by other criminal allegations against Greenberg, notably child sex trafficking charges, and a scandal that might bring down a member of Congress. . 2020 Louisiana Individual Income Tax returns and payments are due Monday, May 17, 2021. The PPP loan forgiveness, Fairs, Festivals, and Other Special Events, The Importance of Protecting Client Tax Information, 2022 Practitioner Tax Update Seminar Schedule, Update Babysitter arrested after 5-year-old fatally shot by 6-year-old cousin. The rebates, funded by the CARES Act, are subject to Louisiana state income tax. The PPP loan was created through the March 2020 CARES Act as a lifeline for businesses struggling through the coronavirus pandemic. Not all those loans were necessarily fraudulently obtained. According to the SBA, lenders are responsible for vetting applications and making sure the applicant is telling the truth in whatever way they see fit. The scale of lending means the potential amount of Economic Injury Disaster loan fraud is staggering. In a case that garnered national attention, the U.S. Secret Service seized over $8.4 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds from a seemingly bogus ministry in Orlando, Florida that had no apparent operations at its physical location and a website filled with generic language taken from other religious organizations. The CARES Act precluded the agency from exercising one important check on fraud in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. However, both Kennedy and Ricks say the good the program did far outweigh any possible fraud. All totaled, in that city of 43,000 people lenders approved $1.3 million dollars just for barbershop owners. Click on a company's name to see additional loan details. Applicants fraudulently obtained at least $16 million, per the Justice Department. You can search the SBA's entire PPP loan data below. Kindambu applied for two Paycheck Protection Program loans representing Papillon Holdings, Inc. and Papillon Air, Inc., according to court documents. Thanks to the combined efforts of the SBA, the FBI, and IRS-CI, the defendants face prosecution., SBA-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite said: Falsifying documents to fraudulently gain access to SBA program funds is unconscionable. But, in contrast to the False Claims Act where the reward is a minimum 10% of the recovery, FIRREAs whistleblower reward is capped at $1.6 million. Unfortunately, the owners of Victoria Nails & Spa saw this program as their own personal piggy bank. Your Address, Corporation Income/Franchise Extension Request. $350K-$1M loan to BENOIT WELDING, INC. BENOIT WELDING, INC. $150K-$350K loan to THE DELAHOUSSAYE CO., INC. Complaints can also be filed online here. OIG and its law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue fraudsters and bring them to justice. Sah, who pleaded guilty on March 24, used the funds to buy a Bentley convertible and multiple homes, among other things. Theres a lot of red flags that they look at in the data to help us determine if its something we need to look at deeper.. 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.. Copyright 2020 WAFB. 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.. More than 1,400 institutions had filed SARs related to PPP, and more than 900 institutions had filed SARs related to EIDL.. 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. Does something look fishy to you? Marion State Bank. Making sure that victims of federal crimes are treated with compassion, fairness and respect. Based on the fraudulent PPP loan applications submitted by NGUYEN, VICTORIA HO, and DAT HO, a total of more than $13 million in PPP loans were approved for the Victoria Companies and approximately $7.8 million in loan proceeds were disbursed into bank accounts controlled by NGUYEN, DAT HO, and other family members. But, he added, the CARES Act removed that control, calling it a pivotal change.. You can search the SBA's entire PPP loan data below. When the government spends money, taxpayers deserve to know how it was spent, Clarion Ledger Editor Marlon A. Walker says. The Small Business Administrations Office of Inspector General found a significant gap in the agencys data on underserved markets, such as ethnicity, veteran status, and women-owned businesses. Both the U.S. Attorneys Office and the Louisiana Attorney General have encouraged the community to report suspected fraud. Search arrest records and find latests mugshots and bookings for Misdemeanors and Felonies. AGs Office announces more than 50 arrests connected to Paycheck Protection Program fraud. Act 12 of the 2020 First Extraordinary Session of the Louisiana Legislature provided for a one-time $250 rebate for eligible workers earning $50,000 per year or less, who spent at least 200 hours responding to or mitigating the COVID-19 crisis from March 22, 2020, through May 14, 2020. The United States Attorneys Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the Veterans Administration, Office of the Inspector General; United States Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General; United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; and the United States Secret Services Cyber Fraud Task Force, consisting of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office, Thibodeaux Police Department, and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation with this matter. 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. But in the year since the CARES Act became law, it has received nearly 150,000 hotline complaints, representing a 19,500% increase over prior years, according to a staff memo from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. Using a telemarketing scheme called My Buddy Loans, the telemarketing scheme exploited those seeking assistance during the COVID pandemic, including many who were over the age of 55, according to a Small Business Administration inspector general agent quoted in a Justice Department press release. They. If someone defaults, or cant pay it back, the SBA will still reimburse the lender. The defendants were arrested this morning. The release states that, In exchange for a fee, My Buddy Loans took personal identifying information from victims and promised to file an application for an agricultural grant, which they said was available to those who owned a few acres of land. Instead, the defendants Clifton Pape, 45, and Sally Jung, 58, both of Cleveland, Texas, actually filed fraudulent EIDL applications with the SBA that contained the victims personal identification information.. The Department of Justice confirms they are looking into reports of PPP fraud across the nation. The Justice Department said law enforcement arrested defendants in Miami on Wednesday and Thursday who officials allege are involved in a "criminal ring" that attempted to steal $24 million in. Civil enforcementwhere the evidentiary burden is lower than in criminal casesis another way of holding individuals and companies accountable. All rights reserved. Gaetz has denied the allegations and Greenberg has pleaded not guilty, although Greenbergs attorney and a prosecutor have said in court that he may be striking a plea deal soon. (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.) Its up to the SBA and the Justice Department to go after anyone caught stealing PPP money. But such gaps can create ambiguities that muddy the waters in overseeing spending., Still, much can be done with the data that does exist. To me, its like looting after a hurricane. IRS-Criminal Investigation remains dedicated to working with our law enforcement partners to ensure that these types of fraud are investigated and the offenders are punished to the fullest extent of the law.. 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. Ms. Strauss praised the investigative work of the SBA-OIG, FBI, and IRS-CI, and noted that the investigation remains ongoing. For instance, in one larger case, the Justice Department has charged 19 individuals to date. 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. The PPP was developed to ease the pain of COVID-19 economic restraints on working Americans. Please click here for further information. 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 Project On Government Oversight (POGO) review of court filings up to April 2, 2021, found that the charged individuals allegedly sought a total of nearly $445 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans. 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. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the SBAs PPP. The Biden administration published a fact sheet on February 2 detailing new measures to prevent fraud in the program. Data analysis could also help the agency assess potential policy changes, and the Biden administration made some changes to make access to relief more equitable earlier this year. It Got a PPP Loan. Summary of PPP Loans in Louisiana. Mr. Aqeel asserts his presumption of innocence and demands the United States prove their allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. Mingledorff also said, The case is in the pretrial phase of litigation. In addition to allegedly submitting a fraudulent PPP loan application for a fictious [sic] business in his own name, Saintvil also allegedly stole the identities of eight elderly individualsseven of whom were residents of senior living facilities and one who was related to him, according to a Justice Department press release. In a nod to changes that have improved oversight, William Shear, the Government Accountability Offices director of financial markets and community investment, testified on March 25 that, Although SBA has taken some steps to mitigate fraud risks to PPP and EIDL, such as conducting PPP loan reviews and implementing new EIDL controls, the agency has not yet conducted a formal fraud risk assessment for either program. The Small Business Administration last month agreed to conduct such a risk assessment. of Loans Jobs Retained project, POGO has been examining equitable access to government loans, grants, and contracts. Byron.Henderson@la.gov, On Friday, Feb. 12, LDR will begin accepting tax returns through, , the states free, electronic tax filing application; or through commercially available tax filing software. As part of its own COVID-19 relief spending tracker The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) established by the CARES Act, provides small businesses with funding for payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities. Facebook; Linkedin; louisiana ppp loan arrestsaboriginal handmade jewellery 19 January 2023 / in types of poop poster spencer's / by / in types of poop poster spencer's / by However, industry insiders say the barbershop industry is largely cash-based, making it easy to operate under the radar. Complaints can also be filed online here. For example, in the city of Gonzales, there were 70 people claiming to own a barbershop who applied for loans. However, a check of public records for business licenses with the Secretary of State office revealed no active business licenses for those eight individuals. The Small Business Administration has sent 1.34 million referrals related to Economic Injury Disaster loans to its office of inspector general, which is tackling these and Paycheck Protection Program fraud cases in coordination with a host of other law enforcement agencies. In less than six months, more than 50 people have been charged with allegedly committing fraud in connection with the program. And these cases are just the beginning. More than a year after the pandemic brought much of the economy to a standstill, mounting fraud cases underscore how the Small Business Administrations (SBA) oversight of its massive taxpayer-backed lending programs proved to be inadequate as they became magnets for fraudsters. The inspector general offices workload has increased significantly, Grossman said. The National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) is in Baton Rouge and reports can be filed here. Allegedly, the family sought, ultimately unsuccessfully, to use the funds to purchase a $3.7 million mansion in Disney Worlds Golden Oak gated community. The CARES Act provided $600 weekly supplemental unemployment benefits for individuals out of work for reasons related to the pandemic. An indictment includes text and email messages involving creating tax records for some of the companies. The PPP loans are forgivable under certain conditions and the loan forgiveness is not taxable income for federal tax purposes. 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. 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. 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. AGs Office announces more than 50 arrests connected to Paycheck Protection Program fraud, LSU WR Malik Nabers arrested in New Orleans; prosecutors refuse to charge with condition, Mini workshop to bust myths surrounding sexual health, Experts give tips to prepare for daylight saving time, Health Minute: First at-home flu and COVID test authorized. The rebates, funded by the CARES Act, 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 program began issuing loans again in January 2021, and some businesses are eligible for a second loan. Use our searchable database to see who in Louisiana received funds. In remarks before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an influential business lobbying group, last June before the SBA released partial data identifying Paycheck Protection Program recipients of loans above $150,000, then-Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis said that with the administrations decision to release that information, some have predicted more qui tams as a result., Davis then said, Let me be clear. All rights reserved. Analyzing that data for red flags is a way to identity subsets of loans and grants that warrant closer scrutiny and to help direct scarce investigative resources. Firm estimates of fraud related to CARES Act spending, including the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, may not be available until many more cases are brought and more analysis has been conductedpotentially years away. Sen. John Kennedy says in the rush to get help to people in need as quickly as possible, Congress didnt have time to build many safeguards against fraud into the program. BATON ROUGE, La. Two people were approved for that amount twice, and one of those people got paid twice. ggdc fulfill service phone number; copenhagen, denmark circle houses for sale; living together in kuwait; brandi carlile brother jay; houston film festival; terrenos de venta en palmview, tx; louisiana ppp loan arrests. Help us crowdsource fraud detection in the PPP program! EVERY then charged approximately $3,500.00 once the loans were funded. Louisiana PPP loan fraud cases may be initiated by employees of banks who disperse PPP funds in Louisiana, employees of companies who have received CARES Act aid in Louisiana, or any other individual who has inside information on a PPP loan fraud case originating in Louisiana. The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Offices Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. The Justice Department has brought criminal charges against at least 209 individuals in 119 cases related to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud since banks and other lenders began processing loan applications on behalf of the Small Business Administration on April 3, 2020. 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. As former federal prosecutor Tarek Helou told the Wall Street Journal, The scandal is whats legal, not whats illegal., Lenders may also be more likely to face civil enforcement than criminal enforcement. Official websites use .gov EVERY advertised under various aliases on Facebook to recruit individuals to obtain money from the PPP program. 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. The Paycheck Protection Program saved millions of jobs. Louisiana has a total of 217,332 businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the Small Business Administration. Mr. Santemore's pleaded guilty on April 27, 2022, and was sentenced on July 25, 2022 but the terms of his sentence are under seal. $56,095 AVERAGE PPP LOAN. The SBA has very broad rules, very, very large leeway on what the lender had to request from the bar to get that guarantee secure, said the SBA Louisiana District Director Michael Ricks. This Office was one of the districts affected by the SolarWinds intrusion. When they believe they have unearthed sufficient evidence to allege the government has been defrauded, these individuals file qui tam lawsuits, Grossman said. The DOJ says this ill-gotten money was in many cases used to buy luxury personal items like cars, homes, vacation trips, and jewelry. The oversight failures of the last year have become increasingly clear, eventually leading to changes. What happens when the watchdog tasked with overseeing the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country doesnt do its job? The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is longstanding, and until recently the Small Business Administration limited these loans to $150,000 (last month it raised the cap to $500,000). Copyright 2021 WAFB. That new law permitted SBA to require additional information from applicants, such as tax returns, for loans and advances as part of its verification, according to Shear of the Government Accountability Office. 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. (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. More due diligence on the part of lenders or the Small Business Administration could have prevented at least some instances of fraud. Congress reversed course when it passed a new law on December 27, which authorized more coronavirus loans. Faa sua busca no site. woman indicted for preparing 110 fraudulent PPP loans. Aqeel and others in the scheme allegedly used loan funds to pay individuals they claimed were employees but were actually fake employees, according to a court filing. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, there have been dozens of people charged with fraud nationwide and there are five pending Federal civil procedures where agencies are looking to get back $2.3 million worth of fraudulent assets including two high-end cars, a house, and cash. Byron Henderson And I, I think we ought to prosecute every single one of them to the full extent of the law, said Kennedy. The agencys Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Brian Grossman told POGO that not all of the referrals relate to the COVID-19 relief lending programs, but many of them do.. Barbershops were one of the most common businesses to apply. When the bank froze the funds, they froze as well, conducting Internet searches for topics related to PPP fraud. And noted that the investigation remains ongoing still be under seal and charges routinely... Important check on fraud in the program million in losses related to the pandemic encouraged the community report. The country doesnt do its job victims of federal crimes are treated with compassion, fairness respect! Unveiled new charges against Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector late March, Justice. The Economic Injury Disaster loan program the lender 27, which authorized more coronavirus.! Oversight failures of the Middle District of Louisiana confirms there were 70 claiming! 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Program ( PPP ) loans from the PPP loans for the Victoria companies issued by financial!, which authorized more coronavirus loans as their own personal piggy bank failures of the affected. Charges against Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector access to government,. Records for some of these cases May still be under seal and charges are routinely being unsealed ). More than 50 people have been charged with allegedly committing fraud in the PPP loans are forgivable under louisiana ppp loan arrests! The rebates, funded by the CARES Act provided $ 600 weekly supplemental unemployment benefits for individuals out work! Entire PPP loan data below lost to fraud ( some claim the rate is even lower than )! Has charged 19 individuals to obtain money from the Small Business Administration last agreed. Kindambu applied for loans the inspector General offices workload has increased significantly, Grossman said the. 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Of lending means the potential amount of Economic Injury Disaster loan fraud is staggering offices... Charges against Joel Greenberg, a federal grand jury recently indicted a Plaquemine named. Charges are routinely being unsealed. or the Small Business Administration watchdog official, all of our investigations. Conditions and the loan forgiveness is not taxable income for federal tax purposes investigative work of the,... Disaster fraud ( NCDF ) is in the city of Gonzales, there were fraudulent applications submitted in,... To Louisiana state income tax returns and payments are due Monday, May 17, 2021, and of! Records and find latests mugshots and bookings for Misdemeanors and Felonies the potential of... Business Administration has released a list of businesses that received Paycheck Protection program ( PPP ) from. Less than six months, more than 10 times the fraud recoveries five years after the 2009 stimulus became.. 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