United States v. Ana Soto

Case summary

Ana Soto, 41, of Wilmington and formerly of Newark, began her scheme to defraud the SBA and its lenders within days of the CARES Act's passage in March 2020. Between March 30, 2020, and January 24, 2021, she submitted approximately seventeen fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds on behalf of five entities controlled by herself or her close relations.¹

Each application falsely stated the business's gross revenues, cost of goods sold and number of employees. Some falsely claimed the businesses were in operation at the start of the pandemic. Through the false applications, Soto obtained approximately $246,000.¹ She applied for, but was denied, approximately $500,000 more in CARES Act loans.²

Soto pleaded guilty on February 24, 2022, to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, and Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly accepted the plea.² The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf. In August 2022, Connolly sentenced her to 31 months in federal prison.¹

Notes

1. U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware, "Wilmington Woman Sentenced to 31 Months in Federal Prison in CARES Act Fraud Case" (original), August 31, 2022; PACER docket, United States v. Soto, D. Del. No. 1:21-cr-00049 (PACER case ID 75995). ↩₁ ↩₂ ↩₃
2. U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware, "Newark Woman Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud and Money Laundering in Connection with CARES Act Fraud" (original), February 28, 2022. ↩₁ ↩₂

Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.