Indictment — United States v. David Christopher Lewis (Eastern District of Kentucky)
Summary
An indictment filed August 5, 2021 in United States v. David Christopher Lewis, Case 6:21-cr-00048-REW-HAI, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Count 1 charges wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343, alleging that Lewis submitted false payroll information and IRS Form 941s to First State Bank of the Southeast for PPP loans to Bubba Fest, LLC for $195,000 and Elite Artists Agency, LLC for $175,000. Counts 2 and 3 charge attempts to obstruct a grand jury investigation under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2): asking witness C.K. to sign a backdated employment contract, and submitting a sworn affidavit that the indictment states was false. The forfeiture allegation seeks a money judgment of $370,000.
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“Indictment — United States v. David Christopher Lewis (Eastern District of Kentucky).”
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Case: 6:21-cr-00048-REW-HAI Doc #: 1 Filed: 08/05/21 Page: 1 of 8 - Page ID#:
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
SOUTHERN DIVISION
LONDON AT LEXINGTON
fZOBERT R. CARR
CLERI( U.S. DISTRICT COURT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v. INDICTMENT NO. J. 1~lfi,, r-.etv
DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS
* * * * *
THE GRAND JURY CHARGES:
At all relevant times:
1. The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) was an executive-
branch agency of the United States government that provided support to entrepreneurs
and small businesses. The mission of the SBA was to maintain and strengthen the
nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by
assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters.
2. As part of this effort, the SBA enabled and provided for loans through
banks, credit unions and other lenders. These loans had government-backed guarantees.
In addition to traditional SBA funding programs, The CARES Act, which was signed into
law in March 2020, established several new temporary programs and provided for the
expansion of others to address the COVID-19 outbreak.
3. One of these new programs was the SBA Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP), which was a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to
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keep their workers on the payroll. Under this program, the SBA would forgive all or part
of loans if all employees were kept on the payroll for eight weeks and borrowers
submitted documentation confirming that the loan proceeds were used for payroll, rent,
mortgage interest, or utilities. Interested applicants applied through an existing SBA
lender or any other participating federally insured financial institution.
4. The PPP application process required applicants to submit a Borrower
Application Form through an SBA-approved financial entity. The application contained
information as to the purpose of the loan, average monthly payroll, number of employees
and background of the business and its owner. First State Bank of the Southeast was a
federally insured financial institution approved by the SBA to process PPP loan
applications.
5. Applicants for a PPP loan were also required to make good faith
certifications, including that (1) economic uncertainties necessitated their loan requests
for continued business operations and that they intended to use loan proceeds only for the
authorized and not any duplicative purposes, (2) the information provided in the
application and all supporting documents was true and accurate, and that knowingly
making a false statement to obtain a loan from the SBA constituted a criminal offense,
and (3) the applicant understood that the lender would calculate the loan amount using
tax documents the applicant submitted, and that these tax documents were identical to
those submitted to the Internal Revenue Service.
6. DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS was a resident of Harlan County,
Kentucky, in the Eastern District of Kentucky. LEWIS was the organizer and registered
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agent ofBubba Fest, LLC and Elite Artists Agency, LLC.
COUNT 1
18 U.S.C. § 1343 - Wire Fraud
7. Paragraphs 1 through 6 are re-alleged and incorporated by reference as if
set forth fully herein.
8. Beginning on or about a date unknown, but not later than April 15, 2020,
and continuing through at least May 31, 2020, in the Eastern District of Kentucky and
elsewhere, the Defendant,
DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS
aiding and abetting, and aided and abetted by, another person known to the grand jury,
devised and intended to devise a scheme to defraud and to obtain money and property by
means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, and
concealment of material facts, which scheme is further described below.
Purpose of the Scheme
9. It was a purpose of the scheme for DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS to
unlawfully enrich himself and businesses he operated by submitting or causing to be
submitted false and fraudulent applications for PPP loans to the SBA.
Manner and Means
10. It was a part of the scheme for DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS to
submit or cause to be submitted to First State Bank of the Southeast and the SBA false
information about the total payroll costs and average monthly payroll of Elite Artists
Agency, LLC and Bubba Fest, LLC
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11. It was a part of the scheme for DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS to
submit or cause to be submitted to First State Bank of the Southeast and the SBA
numerous false IRS Form 941s, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, for Elite
Artists Agency, LLC and Bubba Fest, LLC, when in truth and in fact neither of those
entities had filed IRS Form 941 s in calendar year 2019 or the first quarter of 2020, as
LEWIS represented or caused to be represented.
12. It was a part of the scheme for DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS to cause
to be deposited into accounts he controlled at First State Bank of the Southeast the
proceeds of SBA loan number 42182474-00, made payable to Bubba Fest, LLC in the
amount of $195,000, and the proceeds of SBA loan number 42054574-05, made payable
to Elite Artists Agency, LLC in the amount of$175,000.
13. On or about May 8, 2020, in the Eastern District of Kentucky, and
elsewhere, the Defendant,
DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS
for the purpose of executing the scheme described above, caused to be transmitted by
means of wire communication in interstate commerce the signals and sounds described
below, specifically, applications for loans under the PPP program on behalf ofBubba
Fest, LLC and Elite Artists Agency, LLC, which were sent by means of interstate wire
communication from First State Bank of the Southeast to the SBA.
All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
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COUNT2
18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2)-Tampering With Documents or Proceedings
14. Paragraphs 1 through 13 are re-alleged and incorporated by reference as if
set forth fully herein.
15. On or about April 27, 2021, in the Eastern District of Kentucky, the
Defendant,
DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS,
did corruptly attempt to obstruct, influence, and impede a Federal grand jury
investigation, an official proceeding, by asking witness C.K. to sign a backdated
employment contract for calendar year 2019 that stated that C.K. was employed by
Bubba Fest, LLC and was paid $1,200 per week, when in truth and in fact C.K. did not
work for Bubba Fest, LLC in 2019, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code,
Section 1512(c)(2).
COUNT3
18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2)-Tampering With Documents or Proceedings
16. Paragraphs 1 through 13 are re-alleged and incorporated by reference as if
set forth fully herein.
17. On or about July 2, 2021, in the Eastern District of Kentucky, the
Defendant,
DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS,
did corruptly attempt to obstruct, influence, and impede a Federal grand jury
investigation, an official proceeding; specifically, in response to Federal grand jury
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subpoenas issued to Bubba Fest, LLC and Elite Artists Agency, LLC seeking certain
employment records, DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS submitted a sworn affidavit
falsely stating that he had engaged a tax preparer in Harlan County, Kentucky to prepare
PPP loan applications for those businesses, that the tax preparer assured LEWIS that
everything in the PPP loan applications was accurate, and that the tax preparer had
custody of records responsive to the Federal grand jury subpoenas but refused to return
the records to LEWIS, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section
1512(c)(2).
FORFEITURE ALLEGATION
18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(2)(A)
18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(l)(C)
28 U.S.C. § 2461(c)
In committing the felony offense alleged in Count 1 of this Indictment, punishable
by imprisonment for more than one year, DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS shall forfeit
to the United States, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(2)(A), 18 U.S.C. § 98l(a)(l)(C) and
28 U.S.C. § 246l(c), any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from
proceeds traceable to the commission of wire fraud.
The property to be forfeited includes, but is not limited to, the following:
MONEY JUDGMENT:
$370,000, representing the approximate amount of proceeds derived from
the wire fraud scheme.
If any of the property described above, as a result of any act or omission
of DAVID CHRISTOPHER LEWIS:
a. cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;
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b. has been transfe1Ted or sold to, or deposited with, a third party;
c. has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court;
d. has been substantially diminished in value; or
e. has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided
without difficulty,
the United States of America shaJl be entitled to forfeiture of substitute property pursuant
to 21 U.S.C. § 853(p), as incorporated by 18 U .S.C. § 982(b)( l ) and 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c).
FOREPERSON
CARLTON S. SHIER, IV
ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
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PENALTIES
COUNTS 1-3: Not more than 20 years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine or twice the
gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and not more than 3 years of
supervised release.
PLUS: Mandatory special assessment of $100 per count.
PLUS: Restitution, if applicable.
PLUS: Forfeiture, as alleged.
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