James "Jimmy" Flores — profile dossier

In the archive

Case: United States v. James Flores — U.S. District Court, N.D. Tex., Fort Worth
Interactive: Blueacorn’s $1.09 billion in PPP fees: 61% went to a marketing firm run by members of its leadership

Identity and role

James "Jimmy" Flores was a co-founder of Blueacorn, the Arizona lender service provider that Nathan Reis, Stephanie Hockridge, and Noah Spirakus built in April 2020 to process Paycheck Protection Program applications. Press and the company's own early promotion referred to Flores as a Blueacorn founder and representative; in March 2021 he was the named Blueacorn contact in a partnership announcement with the real-estate-tech firm MooveGuru. He has been described as Blueacorn's president, though that title is not pinned to a primary document in the public record. He was associated with a consultancy, Qualytics, that worked with Blueacorn's loan-processing systems.

Biography / career arc

Reis's factual resume — the sworn stipulation of facts behind Reis's guilty plea — lists "July 2020 — James Flores" among the fraudulent PPP loans the conspirators obtained under materially false representations.

At Hockridge's June 2025 trial he testified as a government witness.

The company and its PPP/EIDL role

Blueacorn was a lender service provider, not a bank. It collected and screened PPP applications and forwarded approved ones to partner CDFIs — Prestamos in Phoenix and Capital Plus Financial in Bedford, Texas — for a share of the SBA processing fees. In 2021 it forwarded the 739,282 applications it told the Subcommittee it had approved and sent to lenders for funding. Blueacorn collected roughly $1.08 billion in fees. The House Select Subcommittee found that Blueacorn and Womply together touched nearly one in three PPP loans funded in 2021.

The charge concerned submitting applications they knew contained false information, and coaching fee-paying clients to do the same. Blueacorn's portal also routed applications to Capital Plus Financial in the Northern District of Texas, which is what placed the case there.

Their own relief

The July 2020 loan in Flores's name, identified in Reis's factual resume as one of the fraudulent loans obtained under false representations, is the documented instance of Flores receiving relief through the scheme. The exact amount is not broken out in the public charging summary.

Legal status / controversies

Flores was charged in the Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth Division), case 4:24-CR-306-Y, before U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means. Means also handled the related Qualytics defendants Michael Cota and Vivian Arriaga; Reis and Hockridge's case went to a different judge, Reed O'Connor. He was charged not by grand-jury indictment but by a one-count felony information filed December 5, 2024, with a forfeiture notice. On December 11, 2024, Flores waived indictment and pleaded guilty to that single count: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1349 and 1343. The offense was charged as concluded May 31, 2021.

The sentence, imposed by Judge Means and entered September 17, 2025 (with a technical amended judgment a week later), was 41 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, plus a $100 special assessment. Flores was directed to surrender before October 13, 2025.

The amended judgment (doc 84, September 25, 2025) orders Flores to pay $64,391,256.84 jointly and severally with Nathan Reis and Stephanie Hockridge, corrected from $64,844,573.00 in the original judgment (doc 79), along with joint-and-several amounts of $45,617.75 with Arriaga and $83,929.49 with Cota.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

Flores was set to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons before October 13, 2025 to begin his 41-month term. No public record indicates a post-conviction business or appeal as of mid-2026.

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Sources

U.S. v. James Flores, No. 4:24-CR-306-Y (N.D. Tex.), felony information (Dec. 5, 2024); plea/factual resume (Dec. 11, 2024); judgment doc 79 (Sept. 17, 2025) and amended judgment doc 84 (Sept. 25, 2025) — restitution $64,391,256.84 j/s with Reis and Hockridge as amended (originally $64,844,573.00); 41 months' imprisonment; Judge Terry R. Means. Documents collected via PACER/RECAP (case file: United States v. Flores and United States v. James Flores — U.S. District Court, N.D. Tex., Fort Worth).
American Banker, "Blueacorn founder convicted of PPP fraud conspiracy" (June 24, 2025) — trial coverage including Flores's testimony and the "nearly one in three 2021 PPP loans" finding: American Banker, "Blueacorn founder convicted of PPP fraud conspiracy" June 24, 2025 — trial coverage including Flore... (original: americanbanker.com · stored capture)
U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, "We Are Not the Fraud Police: How Fintechs Facilitated Fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program" (Dec. 1, 2022) — Reis factual resume lists "July 2020 — James Flores" loan: Report - House Report 2022 How Fintechs Facilitated Fraud Ppp (original: coronavirus-democrats-oversight.house.gov · stored capture)
DOJ OPA, "Co-Founder of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Service Provider Sentenced for $65M COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme" (Reis sentencing, Dec. 18, 2025) — establishes the ~$65M / 530-loan conspiracy Flores shares liability for: DOJ OPA, "Co-Founder of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Service Provider Sentenced for $65M COVID-19 Relief Fraud... (original: justice.gov · stored capture)
RISMedia, "MooveGuru Partners With Blue Acorn to Provide PPP Loans" (Mar. 8, 2021) — Flores as Blueacorn representative.