Former Miami-Dade Corrections Sergeant Sent to Prison for Stealing COVID-19 Relief Loans; Three from Tulsa Area Sentenced in PPP Loan Fraud, and other C-Virus related stories
Former Miami-Dade Corrections sergeant sent to prison for stealing COVID-19 relief loans
A former Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation sergeant has been sentenced to one and a half years in prison for submitting hundreds of thousands of dollars in false loan applications for COVID-19 relief funds that were meant for struggling businesses during the pandemic.
Arashio Harris, 49, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August, was ordered to pay back more than $432,000 to the U.S. government after admitting that he applied for two Paycheck Protection Program loans as well as two Economic Injury Disaster Loans to “unlawfully enrich himself,” according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga sentenced Harris in Miami federal court on Friday, ordering him to surrender to prison authorities immediately. He is among a string of South Florida corrections and police officers who have been charged with fleecing the pandemic-relief loan programs since it was adopted in 2020.
Among the latest: 17 Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies and jail guards were accused this month of receiving about $500,000 in U.S. government-backed COVID-19 loans through fake business applications.
The Paycheck Protection Program, which was passed by Congress to help keep businesses intact and the economy going during the pandemic, allocated about $800 billion in loans through banks. The Small Business Administration guaranteed the loans. In almost all instances, the loans were forgiven as long as the money was used for payroll and other legitimate overhead costs. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program was also activated to help businesses during the pandemic.
But Harris, with the help of an associate, submitted applications to abuse these programs as the owner and president of the Nevada-based Good Family Property Solutions Inc. and Flying Lions LLC, according to a factual statement filed with his plea agreement. —>READ MORE HERE
Three from Tulsa area sentenced in PPP loan fraud:
Three Tulsa-area residents have been sentenced in connection with federal Paycheck Protection Program loan schemes.
In one case, a husband and wife were sentenced to federal prison and ordered to repay $743,776.98 in restitution to the Small Business Administration.
William Mark Sullivan, 50, and Michelle Cadman-Sullivan, 43, were sentenced to respective prison terms of three years and two years in prison after pleading guilty in June 2022 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The couple will also be required to serve five years of supervised release.
In another case, Ladawn Shazzelle Pinkney was sentenced to six months in prison followed by six months of home confinement after pleading guilty earlier to wire fraud.
Pinkney was also ordered to repay the Small Business Administration $41,828.46 in restitution.
“All three of these individuals repeatedly lied to banks to obtain government funds intended to retain employees at legitimate businesses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “My office will continue to hold fraudsters accountable for misusing federal emergency assistance.”
The Sullivans admitted in their plea agreements to seeking $2.7 million in PPP loans from Arvest Bank and Exchange Bank by submitting false W2s, false tax reports and other false information in six applications. —>READ MORE HERE
Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
FDA Should Recall ‘Adulterated’ Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine: Robert Malone
Students can still go to school even if they have mild symptoms, new state health guidance says
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
If you like what you see, please “Like” and/or Follow us on FACEBOOK here, GETTR here, and TWITTER here.
Comments are closed.