Court filing
Crim Flsd Unknown Us V Devonte Thames Docx Complaint - Us V Devonte Thames
Summary
A sealed criminal complaint in United States of America v. Devonte Demond Thames in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, attested February 24, 2021 with an IRS-CI special agent's affidavit. It charges wire fraud, bank fraud, and attempt and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. The affidavit alleges that a cooperating source submitted a Paycheck Protection Program application with falsified Forms 941 for a company Thames organized, yielding a $409,735 loan, in exchange for a kickback, and that he recruited other applicants. It states that the wider scheme's applications were worth more than $34 million, with approximately 42 loans funded for approximately $17.6 million. It cites bank records showing approximately $18,545 in purchases at luxury fashion stores.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Full text
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18U.S.C.991342and2
18U'S.C.ûj1344and2
18U'S.C.b1349
WireFraud
BankFraud
Conspiracy/AttempttoCornmitWireandBankFraud
AARON TIJERINO
Feb 24, 2021
SEE ATTACHED AFFIDAVIT.
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AFFIDA VIT
1,David Passonno,being tsrstduly sworn, hereby depose and state as follows:
IN TRO DU CTIO N A ND A G EN T BAC K G RO U ND
lmake this Affidavit in support of a crim inal com plaint charging D EVONTE
DEMOND THAMES(STHAMES''oriiDefendant'), withwirefraud,bankfraud, andattemptand
conspiracy to com m itw ire fraud and bank fraud, in violation of l8 U .
S.C.jj1343,1344,1349,
and 2,from on oraboutM ay 27, 2020,to atleaston oraboutFebruary 15 2021,in the Southern
,
DistrictofFlorida,andelsewhere(theilTargetOffenses')
.
Defendanthas participated in a conspiracy and schem e to obtain by fraud m illions
of dollars in forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (iippp'')and other
governm entprogram s. D efendantcom m itted the TargetOffensesw ith a person now cooperating
withtheinvestigation('CCHS253 andothers. Defendantobtained afraudulentPPP Ioanforhis
own company,Berneta E.ThamesFoundation LLC (the 'il-hamesFoundation'), w ith CH S 2
providing falsitsed docum ents and subm itting the application on Defendant's behalf in excha
nge
fora kickback from the Ioan proceeds. D efendantalso conspired to subm itadditionalfraudulent
PPP loan applicationsforothercompaniesby recruitingotherconfederateloanapplicantsin order
to receive kickbacks from those confederates. To intlate the size of these PPP loans, and the
corresponding kickbacks,the conspiratorsrelied on a variety of false statements, including by
subm itting falsified bank statem ents and payrolltax form s. For exam ple,the conspirators used
nearly identicalversions ofthe sam e fabricated bank statem ents, recycled in the PPP applications
form ultiple com panies,w ith m inorchanges.
The conspirators in the scheme planned or prepared at least 90 fraudulent
applications,m ostofw hich were subm itted. Based on the evidence investigators have reviewed
to date,CH S 2,Defendant,and theirco-conspiratorsapplied forPPP loansthatare togetherworth
morethan $34 million,with atleastapproximately 42 ofthose loansapproved and funded fora
totalofapproxim ately $17.6 million. Certain ofthose loan recipientsthen wired a kickback of
varying amounts, often approximately 25% of the fraudulent loan proceeds, to an account
controlled by CHS 2.
lam a SpecialAgentwith the U nited States Departm entofthe Treasury, Internal
RevenueService,Criminallnvestigation($$IRS-Cl'')andhavebeenemployedinthiscapacitysince
Decem ber20l8, Iam presently assigned to the M iam iField O ffice. M y dutiesasa SpecialA gent
includetheinvestigationofpossiblecriminalviolationsoftheInternalRevenueCode(Title26of
theUnitedStatesCode),theBankSecrecyAct(Title31oftheUnitedStatesCode), and the M oney
Laundering Statutes (Title 18 of the United States Code).I graduated from the Criminal
InvestigatorTraining Program attheFederalLaw Enforcem entTraining Centerin April2019 and
the Special Agent lnvestigative Techniques program at the National Crim inal lnvestigation
Training A cademy in Decem ber 2019. ln these two program s, I studied a variety of law
enforcementtacticsandcrim inalinvestigatortechniquesrelatingtotaxandGnancialcrimes. Since
becom ing an IRS-CISpecialAgents lhavepersonally investigated and assisted in investigations
relating to the lnternalRevenue Law sand financialcrim es. Recently,l have been assigned to
work w ith the U.S.Departm ent of Justice and other law enforcem ent partners, including the
FederalBureau of Investigation and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector
G eneral, to investigate possible fraud associated w ith the stim ulus and econom ic assistance
program screated b)'the federalgovernm entin response to the COV lD-19 pandem ic.
The facts in thisA ffidavitcome from m y personalobservations, m y training and
experience,and inform ation obtained from otherm embersoflaw enforcem entand from w itnesses.
Page 2 of18
ThisA ffidavitis intended to show merely thatthere is sufficientprobable cause and does notset
forth allofm y know ledge aboutthis m atter.l
PR O BA BLE CA USE
The Pavcheck Protection Prozram
6.
TheCoronavirusAid,Relief,andEconomicSecurity(;SCARES'')Actwasafederal
1aw enacted in oraround M arch 2020 and designed to provide em ergency financialassistance to
the m illions of A m ericans w ho are suffering the econom ic effects caused by the CO VlD-l9
pandem ic. One source ofrelitfprovided bytheCARES Actwastht authorization offorgivable
loanstosmallbusinessesforjobretentionandcertainotherexpenses,throughaprogram rtferrtd
toasthePaycheckProtectionProgram ($fPPP'').
ln order to obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying business subm itted a PPP loan
application,which was signed by an authorized representative ofthe business. The PPP Ioan
application requircd the business (through its authorized representative) to acknowledge the
program rules and m ake certain affirm ative certifscations in orderto be eligible to obtain the PPP
loan.lnthePPPloanapplication(SmallBusinessAdministration((dSBA'')Form 2483).thesmall
busintss(throughitsauthorizedreprestntative)wasrequiredto providt,amongotherthings,its:
(a)averagemonthlypayrollexpenses;and(b)numberofemployees.Thesefigureswereusedto
calculate the am ount of m oney the sm all business was eligible to receive under the PPP. ln
addition,businesses applying fora PPP loan were required to provide docum entation confinning
theirpayrollexpenses.
l
The conductand charges described in this Affidavitare partofa larger investigation that
is being conducted in this D istrict and elsew here. A s a result, not all num bered sources and
anonym ous individualsand entitiesare described in evel.y filing. lhave included in thisAffidavit
only those individualsand entities Ihave deem ed necessary to explain the particularfactssetforth
here.
Page 3 of18
8.
A PPP Ioan application was processed by a participating lender. If a PPP loan
application was approved,the participating Itnder funded tht PPP loan using its own m onies.
W hile itw asthe participating lenderthatissued the PPP loan, the loan was 100% guaranteed by
the SBA . Data from the application,including inform ation aboutthe borrow er, the totalam ount
oftheIoan,andthelisted numberofemployees,wastransmitted by the lenderto the SBA in the
course ofprocessing the loan.
PPP loan proceedsw ere required to be used by the businesson certain pennissible
expenses- payrollcosts,interest on mortgages,rent,and utilities. The PPP allow ed the interest
and principalon the PPP loan to be entirely forgiven ifthe business spentthe loan proceeds on
these expense item swithin a designated period oftim e and used a defined portion ofthe PPP loan
proceedson payrollexpenses.
FinancialInstitutions
10.
ThisAffsdavitreferencesfinancialinstitutionsthatareheadquartered intheUnited
Statesand insured by the FederalDepositInsurance Corporation, including Bank l,Bank 3,Bank
5,Bank 6,and Bank 7.
The Schem e to Obtain FraudulentPPP L oans
On oraboutMay l3,2020,Phillip J.Augustin(fçAugustin'')andCHS 2worked
togetherto submitafraudulentPPP loan applicationon behalfofacompany owned by Augustin.
Augustin submitted a PPP loan of $84,515 to a federally insured bank (hereinaftertdBank 3'5),
through a third-party company processor (hereinafter idBank Processor 159). The application
Page 4 of18
included bank statem entsthatareclearforgeries,and CHS 2 hasadm itted thatthe application was
based on docum entsthathe falsified forA ugustin.z
12.
Follow ing the successofthatinitialfraudulentPPP application,Augustin and CH S
2 began to w ork on obtaining m ort and largtr PPP loans for Augustin's associatts and othcrs,
generally forseveralhundredthousanddollarsforeachloan,uptoasm uchasapproximately $1.24
million. Based on the evidence investigators have reviewed so far,CHS 2 and Augustin
collectively coordinated applicationsforPPP loansthataretogetherworth morethan $34 million
dollars.TheevidencealsoshowsmanymorePPP loanswereattemptedbutrejectedbybanksor
their partners, or w ere planned and prepared, but not subm itted before CH S 2's arrest. The
evidence suggests thatallor nearly allofthose loan applications were fraudulent,including
Defendant's loan application.
13.
Investigators have obtained m any other PPP loan applications that CHS 2 has
adm itted he subm itted aspartofthisschem e,based on falsified docum ents,and havealso obtained
draftdocumentsused orintendedtobeused in thoseapplicationsorothers.Theseapplicationsall
follow the sam e pattern of fraud- m any w ith obviously counterfeit February 2020 bank
statements,and aIlwith fabricated lRS Forms94l(titled,SiEmployer'sQuarterly FederalTax
Rtturn'')withthesamtindiciaoffraudfoundinAugustin'sinitialapplication butgenerallywith
2
O n June 25, 2020,investigatorsarrested CHS 2 and anotherperson now cooperating w ith
theinvestigation(ISCHS3'')andexecuted searchwarrantsattheirresidences.Followinghisarrest,
CHS2chosetocoogeratewiththeinvestigation inthehopeofobtainingfavorableconsideration
in connection with hlspending charges. CHS 2 w asinterview ed on thatday,and hascontinued to
cooperate w ith the investigation after obtaining counsel. M ostof his statem ents related herein
have been corroborated by records obtained from third parties or recovered from his electronic
devices.
Page 5 of18
even larger intlated payrollnum bers,thusyielding m uch larger loans.3 CH S 2 has explained to
investigatorsthatthe figures in the Form s 94 lw ere the productof a form ula thatallowed him to
startwith atargetIoan am ount,and then 'iback into''the payrollfigureson the form . He explained
how heusediguresthatwouldproductanaveragemonthlypayrollfor2019that, when m ultiplitd
by 2.5,would yield the requested loan amount. ln turn,the numberofemployeesreported was
chosen based on Gctionalpayrollfigures,chosen to avoid an averageemployeesalal.
y thatm ight
raise suspicion.
l4.
CHS 2 has also explained thathe tried to use bank statements showing thatthe
com pany had a large balance. Because so few com panieshad such a statem ent, and likely also
becaust itwaseasierthan keeping track oftheirtruestatem ents, CH S 2 repeatedly subm ittednear-
replicasofthe same falsified bank statements. ln particular,CHS 2 appearsto haverecycled one
statem ent each from Bank 1,Bank 6,and Bank 7. In recycling a statem ent, CH S 2 generally
changed only the accountnum ber and the account holder's nam e and address, such that each
version ofthe statementhad identicalfiguresand lineitemsthroughoutthestatement.
A review ofrecords for bank accountscontrolled by CH S 2 at Bank 5 confirmed
CHS 2's adm issions that he received num erous kickbacks, often of approxim ately 25% of the
am ountofthe loans,and thathe regularly wired Augustin a share of that kickback in the early
stagesofthescheme.CHS 2explainedthatthey weredoing so many loansbytheendofM aythat
he changed course,instead wiring Iargerlum p sum s,collecting A ugustin'ssharesofthe kickbacks
form ultiple loans in onew ire.
3
Som e loan applications also included voided checksthatappearto be falsitsed, such as a
purported check from abank (idBank 559)thatappearsto havebeen produced on a computerand,
asthesubjectlineofanemailtransmittingthevoidedcheckread,ddconverted to PDF(,1''rather
than a scan ofan authentic check.
Page 6 of18
16.
Investigatorsare stillreceiving and analyzing records,butbased on apreliminary
analysis,asofAugust31,2020,investigatorshad identifiedatotalofapproximately$2,367,765.82
in transfersto CH S 2'saccounts from entitiesthateach obtained a sizable PPP Ioan and thatw ere
identiGed in the PPP Gles seized from CH S 2's and another co-conspirator's residences, as
described below- orfrom individualsassociated withthoseentities.
l7.
The PPP loans identifled above as im plicated in the foregoing kickback paym ents
to CH S 2 representonly a fraction of the overall schem e. ln executing search warrants atthe
respective residencesofCHS 2 and CHS 3,federalagentsfound stacksofpaptrprinted outand
organized by entity,containing an d'intake fonm,''fabricated Form s941,or both foreach entity.
The intake formscontained Geldsforthe inform ation needed to fabricate the documentsand f5ll
outotheraspects ofthe PPP application:identifying inform ation aboutthe owner and com pany,
aswellasbank accountinform ation forreceiving the Ioan.A section atthe end m arked VSBELOW
IS OFFICE USE ONLY''included blank fields forthe idNumberofEmployeesl,l''dsMonthly
PayrollExpenselsl''and C'SBA Loan Pre-ApprovalAmount.'' Between CHS 2'sand CHS 3's
residences,investigatorsseized paperfilesforPPP loanapplicationsforapproxim ately 80 different
entities.
l8.
Data obtained from the SBA showed additional PPP Ioan applications from
additional entities that text m essage and em ail records show had been referred to CH S 2 by
mem bersofthe conspiracy.
The FraudulentPPP Loan D isbursed to the Tham es Foundation
19.
According to the South Carolina Secretary of State's O fGce, the Tham es
Foundation was incorporated in oraround February 20l9. THA M ES is listed as the com pany's
organizerand registered agent. The addresslisted on the ArticlesofOrganization forthe Tham es
Foundation is5369 Gertrude Road,Hollyw ood,South Carolina. Investigatorsvisited thisaddress
Page 7 of18
in or around February 2021 and w ere unablc to Gnd any business nam ed SfBerneta E . Tham es
Foundation''atthatlocation. Rather,thataddressapptartd to bt a residentialproperty, and isthe
residentialaddressassociatedwithTHAM ES on t5lewiththeSouthCarolinaDepartm entofM otor
Vehicles.According to Bank 6 records,on oraboutM arch 27,2019, THAM ES opened abusiness
checking account in the nam e ofthe Tham es Foundation, w asthe sole signatory on the account,
and listed 5369 Gertrude Road,Hollyw ood,South Carolina, asthe statem entm ailing address.
According to the Public Charities Division of the South Carolina Secretary of
State'sOffice,THA M ES registered the '
Tham es Foundation asa charitable organization in 2019.
On the charity registration application,THAM ES was listed astht Thames Foundation'sCEO ,
CFO ,and custodian of the Tham es Foundation's snancialrecords. The application listed the
contactphonenumber843-593-7407andcontactemailaddresslsdemondthames@ gmail.coml.l''
Subscriberrecordsfortheiddemondthames@ gmail.com''accountfrom inoraroundFebruary2021
listed SsDevonte Thames''as the userand Iisted the phone number 843-593-7407. Subscriber
recordsfor843-593-7407 from in oraround January 2021listed 'SDEV ON TE D THAM ES''asthe
subscriber. The charity registration application Iisted only THAM ES underthe section forthe
Tham es Foundation's officers,directors,trustees,and board m em bers. Underthe section forthe
Tham es Foundation's offsces in South Carolina,the application Iisted only the address 5369
GertrudeRoad,Hollywood,South Carolina. According to the Public CharitiesDivision ofthe
South CarolinaSecretary ofState'sO ffice,the Tham esFoundation received an adm inistrative tsne
forfailingto f5leitsannualfinancialreportfortsscalyear2019,which wasdueon July 15, 2020.
The Tham es Foundation's statusas a charitable organization expired on M ay l5, 2020,afterthe
organization did notrenew itscharitable organization status.
Page 8 of18
On orabout M ay 28,2020,a PPP loan application and supporting docum ents on
behalf of the Tham es Foundation wcre tlectronically subm itted, via interstate wire,to Bank 3
throughBank Processor1.Thesedocumentsincluded:(1)purportedThamesFoundation Forms
94lforallfourquartersof2019;(2)apurportedThamesFoundation companybankstatement;
(3)aPPPloanapplicationform;and(4)apromissorynote.
22.
Thepurported Fonms941fortheThames Foundation included in the application
showed quarterly payrollofmore than $490,000 tach quarter,for21 employees. Thatquarterly
payrolltsgureyieldedthe PPP loan application'sdsAverageM onthly Payroll''Ggureof$163,894,
which detenmined the $409,735 amountofthe Ioan. Each Form 94l was signed by hand in the
sam t style of handw riting that CHS 2 acknow ledged using to sign other falsified Form s 94l
subm itted during the course ofthe schem e,w ith the nam e i'Devonte Tham es''as the com pany
owner.EachForm 94lalsolistedTHAM ESasthecompany'sdesigneeandasaddpaidPreparerl,l''
though THA M ES is nota paid tax preparer. The Tham es Foundation Form s 941 follow ed the
sam e style and pattern as the many otherForm s94lthatCH S 2 described and acknow ledged that
he helped create and submitin the course ofthe scheme,including the indicia of fraud.4 IRS
4
A s noted above, THAM ES waslisted asboth ownerand paid preparer. Dozensofother
Fonns 94l subm itted in this schem e evidence the sam e error. CHS 2 has adm itted that these
documentssharethatfeaturebecausehemisunderstoodthefonn,and he(orsomeonefollowing
his instructions)prepared alIofthe Forms 941 atissue. The contentofthe form salso indicate
falsification. AlIfourquarterly formsare nearly identical,and the fourform sforthe Thames
Foundation are identical,dow n to thepenny,in reported figures. They also evidence a pattern of
payrollspendingthatislikely false:each ofthequartersshowssignitscantincreasesfrom thefirst
to second to third m onth ofthe quarter. Foreach identicalform ,the sam e tsguresare reported for
the tax Iiability incurred in the firstm onth ofeach quarter,the sam e tsgure forthe second m onth
ofeach quarter(increased substantially from theirstmonth),andthesame fsgureforthethird
month ofthe quarter (increased substantially from the second month). The resultis thatthe
companyregortsaperfectlyrepeatingcycleofascendingpayrollcostswithineachquarter.CHS
2 has explalned thatthis was due to a form ula he used,allocating differentpercentages of the
quarterly payrolltax liability to each m onth ofeach quarter.
Page 9 of 18
recordsshowedthattheThamesFoundation did not, in fact,t5le any Form s94lforany quarterof
2019 orthe firstquarterof2020,and South Carolina D epartm entofEm ploym entand W orkforce
recordsshow ed thatthe Tham es Foundation did notreportany wages or em ployeesforthatsam e
period.Additionally,South CarolinaDepartmentofEmploymentand W orkforcertcordsshowed
no other reported wages or employees tied to THAM ES'S name or the 5369 Gertrude Road,
Hollywood,South Carolina,address.
The purported Tham es Foundation com pany bank statem ent, which w assubm itted
in electronic form at,w as a clear forgery. First,accordingtothedocument'st
5leAipropertiesg,l''
thestatementwascreated using ''PDFFILLERI,I''a program used to editelectronicPDF sles
.
Second,thestatementwasarecycled version ofthesamefalsitsed Bank 6statementused inother
fraudulentapplicationssubmitted aspartofthisscheme.
24.
The PPP loan application form , labeled atthe top i'Paycheck Protection Program
BorrowerApplicationFormlal''listedTHAM ESasthtowneroftheThamtsFoundation,claimed
thecompany had21employees,and statedthattheaveragtmonthly payrollwas$163,894. Based
on thisfsgure,theamountofthePPP loan requestwas$409,735.The application form required
theborrowertoelectronicallyinitialanumberofidcertitscationsg,q''including:(1)thattheapplicant
wasinoperation on February l5,2020,and had employeesto whom itpaid salaries/payrolltaxes
orpaidindependentcontractors,asreportedonFormts)1099;(2)thatthefundswouldbeusedto
retain w orkers,m aintain payroll,orm ake m odgage/interest/lease/utility paym entsasspecifsed by
the PPP rule and thatunauthorized use could result in charges forfraud;and (3)thatthe
inform ation provided in the application, including in supporting docum ents,w asittrueand accurate
in aIlmaterialrespectss''and thatm aking false statem entscould result in crim inalcharges. Each
Page 10 of18
certiGcation waselectronically initialed ''DT''and the loan application waselectronically signed
'iDevonteThamesl.l''
25. Thepromissorynott,IabeltdatthetopiçpaycheckProtectionProgram Loang,l''set
forththeamountoftheIoan ($409,735)anditsterms(includingthattheproceedscouldonly be
used forbusinesspurposes). Thetermsalso speciGed thatthe borrowermay apply forloan
forgivenessonlyinanam ountequaltotheSum ofcertain speciGedcosts:payrollcosts, intereston
m ortgageobligations,rentobligations,and utility paym ents.Theprom issory notefurtherspecified
thatnotmorethan 25% ofthe amountofforgiveness could be attributable to non-payrollcosts.
Additionally,the prom issory note contained a çsRepresentations and W arranties''section for the
borrower to acknow ledge,am ong other things,thatiithe inform ation provided in allsupporting
docum ents and form s to obtain this loan''were true and accurate. The prom issory note was
electronicallysignedidDevonteThamesl.l''
26.
Bank Processor 1's Internet Protocol(i$IP'') address records for the Thames
FoundationIoanapplicationshowedthatacomputerwithanIPaddress(endingin 170)associated
w ith CH S 2's residence in Broward County,Florida,logged into the Tham es Foundation Ioan
accountasearly asM ay 27,2020.Thest sam trecordsshow ed thatam obiledevicew ith a separate
IPaddress(endingin l3l)accessedtheThamesFoundationloan accountonM ay 27and28,2020,
and again on June 2,2020,both before and after the Tham es Foundation loan application w as
subm itted. CHS 2 later conGrm ed to law enforcem entthatC HS 2 used a com puter, and not a
m obile devicesto accessBank Processor laccountsduring the course ofthe schem e,
Records received from Docusign indicated that the Tham es Foundation loan
application and prom issory note w ere signed on M ay 28,2020, at 6:36 a.m .Pacific time,via a
Docusign accounttied to the emailaddressçsbetfoundation@yahoo.com''and an IP address
Page 11 of18
(endingin 170)associatedwithCHS2'sresidenceinBrowardCounty,Florida.Subscriberrecords
fortheisbetfoundation@yahoo.com''emailaccountfrom February2021listedSsDevonteThames''
asthe user,and listed THA M ES'Sphone num ber,843-593-7407. Records from Docusign also
indicated that about an hour before the Tham es Foundation loan application docum ents were
electronically signed via IP address(tnding in 170) associated with CHS 2's residence,the
separatemobiledevice IP address(ending in 131)also accessed the documentsto be signed
electronically.
28.
Based on the representations m ade in the loan application paperw ork and
supporting documents,thePPP Ioan application fortheThamesFoundation wasapproved, and on
oraboutM ay 29,2020,Bank 3 wired approximately $409.735 in loan proceedsinto theThames
Foundation bank accountatBank 6.
CHS 2 Conflrmed thatthe ThamesFoundation PPP Loan W asFraudulent
29.
Investigators spoke w ith CH S 2 aboutTHA M ES and the PPP loan to the Tham es
Foundation. CH S 2 stated thatCH S 5 referred THAM ES fora PPP Ioan via textmessage.s CHS
2 statedthathehelped subm itthe PPP Ioan application forthe Tham esFoundation, and confirmed
thatitw asbased on fraudulentdocum entation. CH S 2 also confirm ed thatCH S 2 only received a
portion ofhistxpecttd kickback from the Tham es Foundation, and thatCH S 2 senthalf of the
kickback thatCHS 2 did receive to Augustin. Recordsprovided by CHS 2 to law enforcement,
including textmessagesCHS 2 sentand rectived soon afttrsubmission oftht originalThames
5
CH S 5 haspreviously been charged and arrested forhis role in the schem e. Follow ing his
arrest, CH S 5 chose to cooperate w ith the investigation in the hope of obtaining favorable
consideration in connection w ith his pending charges. A ccording to CHS 5,TH AM ES was
referred to CH S 5 by an unidentifsed co-conspiratorwhom CHS 5 only knew by afsrstnam e.
Page 12 of18
Foundation loan,conirm ed thatCHS 2 cxpected to receive 25% ofthe loan proceeds, while Bank
5 recordsconirm ed thatCHS 2 only received l5% ofthe loan proceeds, approximately $6l,460.
Recorded Calls.Em alls.and TextM essaees Conflrm ed TH AM ES'S Knowine Particination in
the Fraud
30.
As partofthe investigation,law enforcementobtained communicationsbetween
CH S 2 and THA M ES,including recorded calls,textm essages,and em ails. I have reviewed a
num ber of these comm unications, which discussed,among other things, the PPP loan for the
ThamesFoundation,additionalPPP loansthatTHAM ES sought, and prospective PPP loans for
associatesthatTHA M ES referred to CHS 2.Thesecom m unicationsoccurred between on orabout
January 21,202l,and on oraboutFebruary 15,2021,and were between CHS 2 and THAM ES'S
phone num ber,843-593-7407,the sam e phone num ber associated w ith the Tham es Foundation.
In the Grstcall,among otherthings,according to CHS 2,thecallerusing thisnumberidentiGed
him selfas i$Devonte''- THAM ES'sfirstnam e- and explained thatC HS 2 helped him geta loan
inthepastandthatTHAM ES wasinterested in obtaining new PPP loans.
At1aw enforcem ent's direction,CH S 2 then conducted a series of recorded calls
w ith TH AM ES at phone num ber 843-593-7407. D uring those calls, am ong other things,
THA M ES told CHS 2 thathe wanted to subm itnew PPP loan applicationsfortwo ofTHAM ES'S
businesses, including the Tham es Foundation, tht sam e business through w hich THAM ES
received the originalPPP loan through this schem e;thatTHA M ES w anted to receive new PPP
loansofapproxim ately the sam eam ountashisoriginalPPP loan, w hich THAM ES confirmed was
$409,735;thatTHAM ES wasalrightwith CHS 2 creating new PPP Ioan application paperwork
which falsified the num ber of employecs THA M ES'S applicant businesses actually had; that
THA M ES believed thathe had paid CH S 2 the fullkickback he owed to CH S 2 in connection w ith
the originalTham es Foundation PPP loan;thatTHA M ES w ould pay CH S 2 25% ofany new PPP
Page 13 of 18
loan proceeds;and thatTHAM ES could referotherindividualsto CHS 2 fornew PPP loansin
exchange forhaving to pay CHS 2 a smaller kickback payment. THAM ES and CHS 2 also
discussed how to w ithdraw the eventual proceeds from the new PPP loans from THAM ES'S
accounts to pay CH S 2's kickback w ithout drawing suspicion from a bank. For instance,
THAM ES told CHS 2,$$lfyou can take avisitto South Carolina and bring, like comehere,you
pick alocation,whateverlike that,and Ibringyou som tcash orwhatever, um ,doing itthatw ay.
Thatw ay it'suntraceable. And that'sm ade m eeven think itdoesn'tleave apapertrailoranything
like that. Butyeah,that's a,that's a good w ay. Im ean wc can wire som e of itback,butnot a
w hole lotatone tim e.''
32.
During one ofthe calls,THAM ES explained thathe had heard CHS 2 had been
involvedwith police recently and asked CHS 2 aboutwhetherthepolice wereinvolved in idthis.''
CHS 2 told THAM ES thathe gotin trouble for an unrelated probation violation. THA M ES told
CH S 2,idlfm e and you going forward,as long as Ican trustyou, and you can,and you can vouch
and say that,you know ,Iike you're notan inform ant, oryou'renot,youknow,anyaffsliationwith
any police oranything Iike that,1can getyou paid. That'snota problem . Like lsaid,lcan even
bring you business.''
33.
Also during one of the calls,CH S 2 explained to THA M ES that CH S 2 had to
backdate the Form s941forTHA M ES'Snew PPP loan applicationsto m akethem appearasthough
they had been subm itted by the relevant business aftereach quarter. Relatedly,CHS 2 asked
THA M ES to send the originalTham esFoundation PPP loan docum ents, which CHS 2wouldthen
use to m ake up new tax fonns so thatthey did notlook identicalto the form s subm itted w ith the
previousapplication. CH S 2 asked THA M ES,idIm ean, justwanttobeallonthesamepage,we
allknow thisisallbullshit,and thatwe're allon the sam epage,right?''THA M ES replied,iiRight.''
Page 14 of18
Following this,CHS 2 asked THAM ES,çlAnd you know thatthese formsare a11being fucking
made,right?'' THA M ES replied,idRight.''
34.
On oraboutJanuary 26,2021,TH AM ES em ailed CHS 2 screenshotsofthe signed
borrowerapplication form andpromissorynotedated M ay 28,2020 correspondingto theoriginal
ThamesFoundation PPP loan application.Thesescreenshotsm atchtd thtsamedocumentsBank
Processor1providedto law enforcementashaving been submittedand issued inconnection with
the Thames Foundation PPP loan. Furtherconfirm ing THAM ES'S involvem ent in the Thames
Foundation PPP loan,THA M ES emailed CH S 2 these screenshots from the sam e em ailaddress
listed
on
the
Tham es
Foundation
PPP
loan
borrower
application
form :
iibetfoundation@yahoo.coml.j''
Duringtheserecordedphontcallsand in ttxtmessagtcommunications,THAM ES
referred speciGc individualsto CH S 2 in orderforthose individualsto obtain PPP loans. One of
those individuals, Ptrson 57,told CH S 2 that Person 57 w as Gne w ith CHS 2 m aking up
information in orderto obtain ahigherloanamountin therangeof$490,000to $500,000.Person
57 said this even though Person 57 had indicated to CH S 2 in an em ailthatPerson 57's two
businesseshadatotalofthrettmploytes,whichcouldnotjustifyPPP loansofthatsize.CHS2
asked ifPerson 57 knew thatidthis isallbullshit,''and Person 57 replied, $$Iknow .''
THAM ES'SBankinu Activitv ConsrmedH isKnowinz Particination in theFraud Consniracv
36.
Ihavealso review ed Bank 6 recordsforthe Tham esFoundation and Bank 5 records
for a com pany controlled by C HS 2, which contsrm ed TH AM ES'S receipt of the Thames
Foundation PPP loan proceedsand the subsequentkickback paym entto CH S 2. Specifically,on
oraboutM ay 29,2020,Bank 3 wired the loan amount,$409.735,into theThamesFoundation
accountatBank 6. As ofon oraboutM ay 1,2020,the Tham es Foundation accounthad a balance
ofapproximately $7,631.63. BeforethePPP loan amountarrived on oraboutM ay 29, 2020,the
Page 15 of18
accountbalancewasdownto approximately $402.88.On oraboutJune5,2020,THAM ESwired
approximately$61,460withthememoline,iiF'orcontractl,l''toCHS2'saccountatBank5.That
paymentw as approxim ately 15% ofthe PPP loan am ount,w hich was shortoftht 25% thatCHS
2 soughtand typically required in the schem e.
37.
During my review ofbank records,itdid not appear thatmuch, if any, of the
Tham es Foundation PPP loan proceeds wentto business-related or payroll-related expenditures.
Between on oraboutM ay 29,2020,and on oraboutJune20, 2020,TH AM ES m ade 12 autom ated
tellermachine($iATM'')cashwithdrawalsfrom thtThamtsFoundationBank 6account,totaling
approximately $40,023.By June30,2020,thecndingbalancefortheThamesFoundationaccount
balancewasapproximately $17,983.17.
38.
A ccording to Bank 7 records, on or about June 4, 2020, THAM ES opened a
businesschecking accountatBank 7 in the nam e ofTressesby K ay, LLC (ii
TressesbyKay'')and
wasthe sole signatory on the account.A ccording to the South Carolina Secretary ofStatebusiness
cntity website,Tressesby Kay was incop orated in oraround July 2018. THA M ES w as listed as
the com pany's registered agent. The address listed forTresses by Kay w as 5369 Gertrude Road,
Hollyw ood,South Carolina,i.e.,THAM ES'Sresidence, w hich w asthe sam e addressalso used for
the ThamesFoundation. On oraboutJune9,2020,THAM ES wired approximately $60,000 of
theThamesFoundation PPP loan proceedsfrom theTham esFoundation accountatBank 6tothe
Tressesby Kay accountatBank 7.On oraboutJunt26,2020,THA M ES transferred viacashier's
check approximately $220,000 ofthe Thames Foundation PPP loan proceedsfrom the Thames
Foundation accountatBank 6 to the Tresses by Kay accountatBank 7. No otherdepositswere
m ade into the Tresses by Kay account between on or about June 4, 2020, and on or about
Novem ber30,2020.
Page 16 of 18
On or about June 26.2020,THAM ES wired approximately $20,486 from the
Tressesby KayBank7accountwiththememoline,i'StaffsngConsultantl,j''toCHS 5'saccount
atBank 8. This kickback paym entwas approxim ately 5% ofthe Tham es Foundation PPP loan
am ount. Betw een on or about June 19,2020,and on or aboutN ovember 24, 2020,THA M ES
conducted approximately 23 cash withdrawals from the Tresses by Kay Bank 7 account in
increments between approximately $8,000 and $9,900,totaling approximately $2l3,875. I
reviewed 18 surveillance vidtos provided by Bank 7. Thtse videos showed a person m atching
THAM ES'S appearance,based on a com parison to TH AM ES'S oftscialphotograph on file w ith
the South Carolina Departm entofM otor Vehieles,conducting cash w ithdraw als, both in-person
and at ATM S. In a surveillance video dated on oraboutOctober22, 2020,a person m atching
THAM ES'Sappearancewasdepictedwithdrawing approximately$9,300 in cash whilewearinga
t-shirtw ith 'T HA M ES''printed on the back.
40.
Bank rtcords from the Tresses by Kay Bank 7 account showed whatapptared to
be purchases of luxury item s and personal expenses w ith the Tham es Foundation PPP loan
procetds. Forexam plt,betw etn on oraboutJuly 23,2020,and on or aboutN ovember 14, 2020,
THAM ES purchased approximately $18,545 in goodsatluxury fashion stores,including:Louis
Vuitton,G ucci,Dolct & G abbana,Baltnciaga,and Neim an M arcus. These purchasesoccurred in
severalcities,including LasV egas,N evada;Beverly H ills,California;H ouston. Texas;Charlotte,
N orth Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina. In addition, bank records
show ed thatTHA M ES m ade purchases fortravelexpensesduring this sam e tim e period. By on
or about Novem ber 30, 2020, the ending balance for the Tresses by K ay account was
approximately $250.61.
Page 17 of18
'Imhese purchases are,consistentwith socia!m edia postslo the publicly acctssible
lnstagraln accountforthehandleSdtrinidad thal-nesl,l''whichcontained il
nagesappearingtodepict
THAM ES in som e ofthese citiesatoraround the time where thcse purchases were made. This
Instagram accountalso cûntained nulmeronsother images and videos ofa person who matched
THAM ES'Sappearance.
CONCLUSION
Based on the tbrgoing,Ircspectfklly stlbm itthatthcrt isprobable catlse to btlieve
thatDEVONTE DEM ON D TI-IAM ES com m ittedthe TargetO ffknses, from on oraboutM ay 27,
2020,to atleaston oraboutFcbruary 15,202 1.inthe Southern DistrictofFlorida, and elsewhem.
FURTH ER YOUR AFFIANT SAYETH NA UG HT.
<
David Passonno
SpecialA gent
IRS-CI
Attestedtobytheapplicantinaccordance
w ith thc requlrem entsofFed.R.Crim .P.4.1
by FaceTime,on tllis 24thday ofFebruary,202l,
atFol-tLatlderdale,Florida.
HO RA BLE JARED M .STRA USS
U ED STATES M AG ISTRATE JUDG E
Page 18 of18
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