So now, he says agencies must go after anyone who might be taking money theyre not entitled to. The line is staffed 24/7. NGUYEN, VICTORIA HO, and DAT HO are members of a family that owns a chain of over 15 nail salons called Victoria Nails & Spa and other companies (the Victoria Companies) in or around the New York metropolitan area, including the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Long Island. 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. Nick Schwellenbach is a Senior Investigator at POGO. Not all those loans were necessarily fraudulently obtained. Copyright 2020 WAFB. The scandal is whats legal, not whats illegal.. Report it to the Small Business Administrations with just a few clicks. Giving back to the community through a variety of venues & initiatives. 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. Two of the companies, Symbiont Retailers and Horizon Enterprises, were not in good standing before the Paycheck Protection Program began. Lock (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.) Qui tam complaints are filed under seal More due diligence on the part of lenders or the Small Business Administration could have prevented at least some instances of fraud. Even if the Justice Department declines to join a case, the whistleblower and their private counsel can continue to pursue it. Banks and other lenders have been filing a huge number of suspicious activity reports to the Treasury Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (better known as FinCEN) related to the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. 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. 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. If you look at the last round [of PPP] and you look at it on a time series, it almost looks like the largest businesses and businesses in high-income neighborhoods received money first and smaller businesses and businesses in low-income neighborhoods received money last, the Small Business Administrations Michael Roth told Politico in March. 650 Poydras Street, Suite 1600 To me, its like looting after a hurricane. The PPP loan forgiveness, Fairs, Festivals, and Other Special Events, The Importance of Protecting Client Tax Information, 2022 Practitioner Tax Update Seminar Schedule, Update We have a lot of qui tam cases that have been brought forward, Grossman told POGO, generally referring to False Claims Act complaints filed by private individuals. 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. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Its the first public case of fraud in these pandemic loan programs attributed to corruption within the agencys own ranks. You can search the SBA's entire PPP loan data below. Does something look fishy to you? Civil enforcementwhere the evidentiary burden is lower than in criminal casesis another way of holding individuals and companies accountable. An attorney for Aqeel, Tommy T. Mingledorff, told POGO by email that these allegations are denied. 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. Your Address, Corporation Income/Franchise Extension Request. Published 8:46 am Sunday, September 11, 2022 . The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The case led to criminal charges, including aggravated identify theft, filed in Texas in February. Click on a company's name to see additional loan details. 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. of Loans Jobs Retained According to an indictment, Sah submitted at least 15 fraudulent applications on behalf of at least 10 companies. When the bank froze the funds, they froze as well, conducting Internet searches for topics related to PPP fraud. Grossman said his office has shared data with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which identified some repeat offenders. In fraud cases where there is no apparent misuse of a loan, civil enforcement may be more likely than criminal prosecution. (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. An internal analysis last fall by the Small Business Administration identified over 2 million approved PPP loan guarantees worth some $189 billion that were potentially not in compliance with the law, though it may turn out that many of those loans were not fraudulent. 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. If approved, the SBA pays the lender back using federal funds. Does something look fishy to you? The program worked like this. The False Claims Act will play a central role in the Departments pursuit of COVID-19 related fraud, Michael Granston, a Justice Department deputy assistant attorney general, said in December. Businesses applying for a PPP loan must provide documentation to confirm that they have previously paid employees the compensation represented in the loan application. EVERY received these funds into her Current account, her Cash App account, or into her boyfriends Current account. 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 Ryan Summers is a research fellow for POGO. 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. Since last October, when POGO published a report examining trends in Paycheck Protection Program loan fraud at the programs six-month mark, several eye-popping cases of alleged fraud have emerged. 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. A total of 73,824 loans were distributed to Louisiana leading to a reported 799,664 jobs being retained. We expect to go to trial because of the serious nature of this matter.. edgewater hotel haunted; can uk consultant doctors work in usa; is spitfire a compliment 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. The auditor found that the deficiencies were caused by an inadequate entity wide control environment.. The Veterans Administration, Office of the Inspector General, is an active member of the PRAC Fraud Task Force. 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. Lenders can be liable under the FCA for knowingly certifying ineligible borrowers for PPP loans, including by failing to employ sufficient anti-money laundering protocols, according to a memo from the Cleary Gottlieb law firm. 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. Marion State Bank. Based on the data, between $5,589,989,154 and $10,528,439,154 have been loaned through the Payroll Protection Program to businesses in Louisiana. Origin Bank. But because the Department of Justice has made PPP and EIDL a priority we are seeing results from DOJ rather quickly in a lot of our investigations., Others in government have also remarked on how fast many of these cases The scale of lending means the potential amount of Economic Injury Disaster loan fraud is staggering. Using that public data, the 9 News Investigators took a close look at PPP loans given out in Louisiana. Each loan paid out was guaranteed using taxpayer money. Aqeel used some of the proceeds to purchase a Lamborghini sports car, according to the Justice Department. The program has traditionally been used to help small businesses facing revenue loss in the wake of natural disasters. But the government could have implemented these safeguards from the beginning, which may have prevented significant levels of apparent fraud in the program. That situation may arise in cases of apparent fraud involving Economic Injury Disaster loan advance grants of $10,000 or less. Barbershops were one of the most common businesses to apply. Kindambu applied for two Paycheck Protection Program loans representing Papillon Holdings, Inc. and Papillon Air, Inc., according to court documents. The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge. All rights reserved. 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. They allegedly exploited a program designed to provide vital funding for small businesses that are legitimately struggling in the midst of the pandemic. In one of the most complex cases to emerge since POGOs original analysis, at least seven individuals were indicted in a scheme that allegedly involved over 80 applications seeking a total of $30 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans. 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. $12.2B TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT. All rights reserved. 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. 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