United States v. Sean M. Andre

Case summary

Sean M. Andre, 30, of Brooklyn, appeared in Albany, New York federal court on a complaint alleging he worked with Ulster County's Jean R. Lavanture to fraudulently obtain more than $4 million in government-backed pandemic loans.¹ Chief U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby sentenced Andre, then 32 and identified in the sentencing release as a former Special Inspector for New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay $1,309,754 in restitution along with forfeiture of $32,900 in cash, six bank accounts totaling $365,613.09, and a 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLS.²

The complaint alleged that between June 24 and August 13, 2020, Andre and Lavanture fraudulently obtained at least $4,184,781 in Paycheck Protection Program loans paid out to companies Lavanture controlled. The applications, it alleged, falsely claimed Lavanture operated multiple companies each employing dozens of people and paying millions in annual salaries. Those companies, according to the complaint, had never reported employees to the New York State Department of Labor or income to the IRS.¹ Andre was paid $157,578 for his role.³ After appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel on the complaint, he was released on conditions.¹

Andre, then 31, later pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, admitting he helped Lavanture obtain $4,309,581 in PPP loans between June and August 2020. He submitted fraudulent applications for four companies Lavanture controlled, creating false corporate tax documents as part of the scheme. Andre separately admitted he fraudulently obtained an additional $1,309,754 in pandemic relief loans through companies he controlled himself. He lied about employee counts and payroll on those applications as well.³

The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the SBA Office of Inspector General, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Barnett and Joshua R. Rosenthal.²

Notes

1. U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, "Brooklyn Man Charged with Conspiring to Commit COVID-19 Relief Fraud" (original), February 10, 2021. ↩₁ ↩₂ ↩₃
2. U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, "Former MTA Special Inspector Sentenced for COVID-19 Relief Fraud" (original), February 24, 2022. ↩₁ ↩₂
3. U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, "Brooklyn Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Commit COVID-19 Relief Fraud" (original), May 26, 2021. ↩₁ ↩₂

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