New Hampshire Man Created Fake Trucking, Ag Businesses to Collect COVID Funds; Kennebunk Woman Pleads Guilty to Faking Beauty Salon for COVID relief funds, and other C-Virus related stories

By admin On Jan 29, 2025

New Hampshire man created fake trucking, ag businesses to collect COVID funds:

A New Hampshire man, who claimed he owned trucking and agriculture businesses, admitted that he conspired with others to fraudulently obtain nearly $320,000 in funds through two emergency relief programs that were designed to help small businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Jan. 8, Chief Judge Lance E. Walker ordered Tyree Jones, 32, of Plymouth, New Hampshire, to pay nearly $52,000 in restitution. Jones pleaded guilty in November 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Victim impact statements are due by Feb. 5.

According to court documents, Jones submitted fraudulent and forged documents to receive three Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loans, amounting to around $52,000, through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

On the PPP applications, Jones claimed to have been the sole owner of a purported trucking company, listing his gross annual income as approximately $109,213 and his payroll as nearly $21,000 on both PPP loan applications filed in April 2021.

In June 2020, Jones, who claimed that he was a sole owner of an agriculture business and employed 12 people, received a $10,000 EIDL advance from SBA that applicants didn’t need to repay.

“In addition to filing fraudulent applications for himself, Jones offered to help others obtain PPP and EIDL funds in exchange for ‘kickbacks’ from any funds they received,” the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Maine said in a statement. —>READ MORE HERE

Kennebunk woman pleads guilty to faking beauty salon for COVID relief funds:

A Kennebunk woman who falsely claimed to own a beauty salon to get COVID-19 pandemic relief program funds has pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

Meghan Martell, 33, entered the guilty plea Monday in federal court as part of a negotiated plea deal with prosecutors, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean M. Green.

According to court documents, Martell submitted a false application in April 2021 to a California lender for a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), stating she was the sole proprietor of a beauty salon with a gross income in 2019 of $99,870. She also submitted fraudulent documentation in support of the application, including a false tax form.