Case docket
Harvest Small Business Finance PPP indictments — U.S. District Court, E.D. Mo.
Harvest Sbf Edmo Cluster — 5 court filings in the archive, mostly from U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Southeastern Division, filed between July 17, 2024 and March 4, 2025. Among them: 5 indictments.
Case facts
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Southeastern Division (3 filings); U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division (2 filings) |
|---|---|
| Filings | 5 public filings |
| Filed | 2024-07-17 – 2025-03-04 |
| Document types | indictments (5) |
| Original PDFs | 5 of 5 |
Case summary
This page collects five indictments returned in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri between July 17, 2024 and March 4, 2025, in separate prosecutions that share a lender. Each indictment describes Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC of California as a third-party participating Paycheck Protection Program lender and a financial institution within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20. They charge Kenneth C. Sparks III, Jeffrey C. Oboite, Harold G. Long, Mya M. McClain and Javonte D. Long in No. 4:24CR374; Katrina Taper and Tiara West in No. 1:24CR128; Velma Taper and Tiara West in No. 1:24CR129; Dortatius L. Hill in No. 4:24CR460; and Keesa Seaniya Lynn Green in No. 1:25CR00049. The cases are pending as of March 4, 2025, the date of the most recent indictment on this page; the charges are allegations.
Case at a glance
| Parties | United States as plaintiff; defendants Kenneth C. Sparks III, Jeffrey C. Oboite, Harold G. Long, Mya M. McClain, Javonte D. Long, Katrina Taper, Velma Taper, Tiara West, Dortatius L. Hill and Keesa Seaniya Lynn Green. Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC is named as the lender, not as a defendant |
|---|---|
| Court and docket | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri: Eastern Division, Nos. 4:24CR374 JAR/SRW and 4:24CR460 SEP/PLC; Southeastern Division, Nos. 1:24CR128SNLJ-ACL, 1:24CR129SNLJ-ACL and 1:25CR00049-JAR-ACL |
| Program | Paycheck Protection Program (PPP); the Sparks indictment also describes Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds |
| Claims | Wire fraud conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. § 1349, and wire fraud, § 1343, with aggravated identity theft, § 1028A, in the Sparks indictment; false statements on a loan application, § 1014, and wire fraud, § 1343, with 18 U.S.C. § 2, in the Taper and Green indictments; bank fraud, § 1344, and wire fraud, § 1343, in the Hill indictment. Each carries forfeiture allegations |
| Disposition or status | Indictments only. No plea, verdict, judgment or sentence is among the filings on this page |
What does the Sparks indictment allege?
That from about September 17, 2018 through at least July 17, 2024 the defendant and his co-conspirators used Faith Walk Ministry and other entities to fraudulently obtain over $1 million in taxpayer money reserved for struggling small businesses during the pandemic. These are the indictment's allegations.
What does the Hill indictment allege?
That the defendant executed and attempted to execute a scheme to defraud a financial institution, including by submitting and causing to be submitted a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan application for approximately $20,833 to Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC. These are the indictment's allegations.
What connects the five cases?
Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC. Each indictment describes it as a participating lender that approved and issued Paycheck Protection Program loans and then initiated an interstate electronic transfer, and the Hill indictment adds that its deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.
Filings
5 public filings from this case, in filing-date order.
- Indictment — United States v. Kenneth C. Sparks III et al. — United States v. Kenneth C. Sparks III et al. (E.D. Mo., 2024-07-17)Indictment · PDF
- Indictment — United States v. Katrina Taper and Tiara West — United States v. Kenneth C. Sparks III et al. (E.D. Mo., 2024-09-03, 1)Indictment · PDF
- Indictment — United States v. Velma Taper and Tiara West — United States v. Kenneth C. Sparks III et al. (E.D. Mo., 2024-09-03, 2)Indictment · PDF
- Indictment — United States v. Dortatius L. Hill — United States v. Kenneth C. Sparks III et al. (E.D. Mo., 2024-09-04)Indictment · PDF
- Indictment — United States v. Keesa Seaniya Lynn Green — United States v. Kenneth C. Sparks III et al. (E.D. Mo., 2025-03-04)Indictment · PDF
Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.