Arkansas Man Sentenced to 16+ Years for COVID-19 Relief Fund Fraud Scheme; NJ Man Pleads Guilty to Getting $900,000 COVID Loan for Fake Company, and other C-Virus related stories
Arkansas man sentenced to 16+ years for COVID-19 relief fund fraud scheme
An Arkansas man was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $16 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
According to court documents and information presented at the hearing, between June 2020 and May 2022, Tyler Andrews, 39, a resident of Arkansas, directed and facilitated the submission of numerous fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications on behalf of his co-conspirators, including individuals in the Eastern District of Washington. Andrews charged his co-conspirators a fee, typically 10% of the loan amount, to be paid after the funds were received. In total, Andrews helped his co-conspirators obtain at least $13,449,179 in EIDL funding.
Court documents also revealed that Andrews submitted multiple false and fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and EIDL applications on behalf of his own businesses, including Andrews Associates, Inc., Texas Oil and Gas Express, Inc., Total Logistic Solutions, and several others. In these applications, Andrews misrepresented key information such as business status, payroll, number of employees, and revenue to secure EIDL and PPP funds. Andrews obtained at least $3,253,541 in PPP and EIDL funding for his businesses. Additionally, his company, TE Andrews Holdings, LLC, received an extra $1,232,000 through Small Business Administration loan programs.
After initially being released pending trial following his indictment and arrest, Andrews was arrested again in July 2023. He was indicted by a grand jury in the Western District of Arkansas for passport fraud and aggravated identity theft for attempting to fraudulently obtain a passport using false information in what appeared to be an attempt to flee the United States. —>READ MORE HERE
NJ man pleads guilty to getting $900,000 COVID loan for fake company
A New Jersey man has admitted in federal court to his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain a $900,000 Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan during the pandemic by getting money for a company that has no workers or payroll.
Joseph McKeon, also known as “Jay,” 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals in Newark federal court to an indictment charging him with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
Court papers say that from February 2021 through February 2022, McKeon submitted fraudulent PPP loan and forgiveness applications for $900,000 on behalf of a New Jersey company, B & T Builders of Westfield, he purportedly owned.
In support of those applications, McKeon lied about the number of employees the business employed and the income the employees earned, documents say.
Court papers say McKeon claimed the business had 60 employees and a monthly payroll of $360,000.
After the victim lender funded the loan, McKeon withdrew a significant amount of the loan proceeds as cash and made several large transfers between bank accounts, including one transfer for $315,504, that was sent to an Indiana title company.
McKeon later submitted a loan application application to the lender. The federal Small Business Administration then remitted to the lender the $900,000 principal and $13,068.49 in interest. —>READ MORE HERE
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