Complaint — United States v. LaShante Williams (Eastern District of Louisiana)

Summary

A civil complaint filed January 15, 2025, by the United States against LaShante Williams in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC. It alleges that Williams received a PPP loan of $20,832.00 on or about March 26, 2021, through Capital Plus Financial, LLC, based on a claimed $101,305 in gross income from a beauty salon and a falsified invoice tied to "Natural Hair Afro, LLC," and that the SBA forgave the loan. The complaint pleads unjust enrichment, payment by mistake, a FIRREA civil penalty, and treble damages and a penalty under the False Claims Act. It asks for treble damages of $70,270.29 or single damages of $23,423.43, plus civil penalties. Sandra Lee Sears signs /s/ as Assistant United States Attorney.

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

Cite this document

“Complaint — United States v. LaShante Williams (Eastern District of Louisiana).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/1-complaint-f7ebeafc24/, SHA-256 6f0860a22996de929bf7490e755afb96abe2af58bcf28cc49545c11e98fb739d.

Full text

Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 1 of 9

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA * CIVIL ACTION

v. * NO. 25-cv-108

LASHANTE WILLIAMS * JUDGE

* MAG.

COMPLAINT

NOW INTO COURT, through the undersigned Assistant United States Attorney, comes

plaintiff, the United States of America, and respectfully submits its complaint against defendant,

LaShante Williams, and hereby alleges the following.

Parties, Jurisdiction, and Venue

Plaintiff is the United States of America proceeding in its sovereign capacity.

Defendant is LaShante Williams, a Louisiana resident domiciled at 209 Mall Circle, Apt.

25, Houma, LA 70364.

Jurisdiction is proper under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1345.

Venue is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because Williams is domiciled in the Eastern

District of Louisiana.

Page 1 of 9
Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 2 of 9

Facts

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was a federal law

enacted in or around March 1420 and designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the

millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One

source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of forgivable loans to small

businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through a program referred to as the

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

A PPP loan application was processed by a participating lender. If a PPP loan application

was approved, the participating lender funded the PPP loan using its own money. While it was the

participating lender that issued the PPP loan, the loan was 100% guaranteed by the United States

Small Business Administration (SBA). Data from the application, including information about the

borrower, the total amount of the loan, and the listed number of employees, was transmitted by the

lender to the SBA in the course of processing the loan and subsequent forgiveness process.

The application process to obtain a PPP loan required the eligible recipient to make the

following good-faith certifications and acknowledgments, among others:

a. That the applicant was eligible to receive a PPP loan under the rules in effect at

the time the application was submitted;

b. That the uncertainty of current economic conditions made the loan request

necessary to support the ongoing operations of the eligible recipient;

c. That the applicant was in operation on February 15, 2020, had not permanently

Page 2 of 9
Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 3 of 9

closed, and was either an eligible self-employed individual, independent

contractor, or sole proprietorship with no employees, or had employees for

whom it paid salaries and payroll taxes or paid independent contractors, as

reported on Form(s) 1099-MISC;

d. That the funds would be used to retain workers and maintain payroll; or make

payments for mortgage interest, rent, utilities, or other covered costs under the

PPP Rules;

e. That if the funds were knowingly used for unauthorized purposes, the federal

government may find the individual legally liable for such charges as fraud;

f. That the information provided in the application and all supporting documents

and forms was true and accurate in all material respects;

g. That the applicant understood that knowingly making a false statement to obtain

a guaranteed loan from SBA is punishable under the law, including under 18

U.S.C. §§ 1001 and 3571 by imprisonment of not more than five years and/or

a fine of up to $250,000.00; under 15 U.S.C. § 645 by imprisonment of not

more than two years and/or a fine of not more than $5,000.00; and, if submitted

to a federally insured institution, under 18 U.S.C. § 1014 by imprisonment of

not more than 30 years and/or a fine of not more than $1,000,000.00; and

h. That the lender would confirm the eligible loan amount using the documents

submitted by the applicant.

On or about March 26, 2021, Williams received a PPP loan in the amount of $20,832.00

based upon false and fraudulent records and statements in a claim for payment submitted to Capital

Page 3 of 9
Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 4 of 9

Plus Financial, LLC. In the PPP loan application, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy with

her, misrepresented her annual income and payroll costs, which were used in calculating her

eligible loan amount.

Further, Williams knowingly used the PPP loan funds for unauthorized purposes.

10.

Williams knowingly misrepresented her use of the funds on the forgiveness application

submitted for the PPP loans. Based upon these false representations, the SBA forgave Williams’s

PPP loan of $20,832 and accrued interest of $91.43. The SBA also paid $2,500 in processing fees

to Capital Plus Financial, LLC for the PPP loan disbursed to Williams.

Causes of Action

Count I - Unjust Enrichment

11.

By obtaining from the United States funds to which she was not entitled, Williams was

unjustly enriched and the United States is entitled to damages in the total amount of $23,423.43,

plus post-judgment interest accruing on that amount.

Count II - Payment by Mistake

12.

The United States, acting in reasonable reliance on the truthfulness of the statements

contained in Williams’s PPP loan application, approved a PPP loan to which Williams was not

entitled.

13.

The United States, acting in reasonable reliance on the truthfulness of the statements

Page 4 of 9
Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 5 of 9

contained in Williams’s PPP loan-forgiveness application, forgave her PPP loan when it was not

eligible for forgiveness.

14.

Thus, the United States is entitled to recoup the amount of Williams’s PPP loan in the total

amount of $23,423.43 plus post-judgment interest accruing on that amount.

Count III – Civil Penalty under FIRREA

15.

Section 951 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act

(FIRREA), codified at 12 U.S.C. § 1833a, provides that the Attorney General may recover civil

penalties of up to $1 million per violation (adjusted to $2,449,575) against persons who commit

specified violations as established by a preponderance of the evidence.

16.

The predicate violations identified in Section 951 that can form the basis for liability under

FIRREA include, among others: (a) knowingly or willfully making a materially false or fraudulent

statement affecting a federally insured financial institution (18 U.S.C. § 1001); (b) making a false

statement on a loan application to a financial institution, “the accounts of which are insured by the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation” (18 U.S.C. § 1014); and (c) knowingly making a false

statement for the purpose of influencing a decision by the Administrator of the SBA or to obtain a

loan, money, or anything of value under the SBA’s 7(a) program, including the PPP (15 U.S.C.

§ 645(a)). See 12 U.S.C. § 1833a(c).

17.

Williams unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly made false statements and certifications to

SBA Lenders and the SBA in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 645(a). Specifically, Williams signed the

Page 5 of 9
Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 6 of 9

PPP loan agreements, thereby knowingly and falsely representing that she would “comply with all

SBA guidance” as it applied to the PPP loans. These statements were knowingly false and made

for the purpose of influencing the SBA in order to obtain PPP loan proceeds in violation of 15

U.S.C. § 645(a).

18.

Williams is liable for civil penalties up to the maximum amount authorized under 12 U.S.C.

§ 1833a(b).

Count VI – Treble Damages and Civil Penalty under the False Claims Act

19.

The False Claims Act (FCA) provides, in pertinent part, that any person who: “knowingly

presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval;” or

“knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a

false or fraudulent claim” is liable to the United States for three times the amount of damages

which the United States sustains, plus a civil penalty per violation. 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(A)–

(B).

20.

Williams knowingly caused a false or fraudulent claim for payment to be presented to the

SBA, and knowingly caused a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim to

be used, all in violation of the FCA, in the following specific ways.

a. On or around March 19, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

with her, falsely claimed in an application for a PPP loan that Williams was the sole

proprietor of a beauty salon that had been established in 2017 and was in operation on

February 15, 2020, when in fact Williams was not an eligible self-employed individual or

Page 6 of 9
Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 7 of 9

an employer in that line of business.

b. On or around March 19, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

with her, falsely claimed that she had earned $101,305 in gross income from the beauty

salon as reported on IRS Form 1040, Schedule C, Line 7, when in fact she did not earn nor

report income in that amount.

c. On or around March 19, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

with her, submitted a false and fraudulent Form 1040, Schedule C showing $101,305 in

gross income, when in fact she did not earn that amount, nor did she file a Form 1040,

Schedule C with the IRS.

d. On or around March 19, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

with her, submitted a falsified “invoice” purporting to show that Williams had billed

someone for $440 of “hair products” in conjunction with “Natural Hair Afro, LLC” on

February 8, 2020 when in fact no transaction occurred and no such business existed.

e. On or around March 19, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

with her, further falsely claimed that the PPP loan funds would be used for authorized

expenditures under PPP rules (such as payroll, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, and covered

supplier costs), when in fact Williams actually used the funds for unauthorized

expenditures.

f. On or around March 19, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

with her, certified that the information provided in her application and supporting

documentation was true and correct in all material respects, when in fact it was false and

fraudulent in the above-stated material respects, among others to be shown at trial.

g. On or around August 26, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

Page 7 of 9
Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 8 of 9

with her, applied to have her PPP loan forgiven and falsely claimed that she spent $20,832

of the loan proceeds on payroll, when in fact she used the entirety of the PPP loan for other

purposes.

h. On or around August 26, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

with her, falsely certified in her PPP loan forgiveness application that she had complied

with all requirements of the PPP Rules and guidance related to eligible uses of PPP loan

proceeds, when in fact she had not complied, but rather had spent the PPP loan proceeds

on ineligible personal uses.

i. On or around August 26, 2021, Williams, or persons acting in conspiracy

with her, falsely certified that the information provided in her PPP loan-forgiveness

application was true and correct in all material respects, when in fact the PPP loan-

forgiveness application had false, material information the SBA relied upon to forgive

Williams’s PPP loan.

21.

Because of these false and fraudulent claims, records, and statements, the United States

(acting through the SBA), was financially damaged in the principal amount of the forgiven PPP

loan ($20,832), forgiven accrued interest ($91.43), and the processing fees SBA paid to Capital

One Financial, LLC ($2,500), in the total amount of $ 23,423.43.

22.

The United States is further entitled to treble damages on this amount, plus a civil penalty

under the FCA. 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1).

Page 8 of 9
Case 2:25-cv-00108-SM-DPC Document 1 Filed 01/15/25 Page 9 of 9

Prayer for Relief

WHEREFORE, the United States prays that its complaint be deemed sufficient and that,

after due proceedings, that there be judgment in its favor and against Williams awarding:

1) Treble damages in the total amount of $70,270.29 under the FCA (Count IV), or,

alternatively, single damages of $23,423.43 for unjust enrichment/payment by

mistake (Counts I and II);

2) A civil penalty of no less than $13,946 under the FCA (Count IV);

3) A civil penalty of no less than $23,423.43 under FIRREA (Count III);

4) Post-judgment interest; and

3) Any further relief the Court deems proper.

Respectfully submitted,

DUANE A. EVANS
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

/s/ Sandra Lee Sears
SANDRA LEE SEARS
Assistant United States Attorney
U.S. Attorney’s Office (E.D. La.)
650 Poydras Street, Suite 1600
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130-7212
Telephone: (504) 680-3150
Email: Sandra.Sears@usdoj.gov

United States will send request for waiver of service to:

Ms. LaShante Williams
209 Mall Circle
Apt. 25
Houma, LA 70364

Page 9 of 9

File and source

File: 1-complaint.pdf
Size: 240,518 bytes
SHA-256: 6f0860a22996de929bf7490e755afb96abe2af58bcf28cc49545c11e98fb739d
Our copy: 1-complaint.pdf
Original: No public link identified.