San Francisco Woman Sentenced To 18 Months For Pandemic Relief Loan Fraud And Impersonating Attorneys

Summary

A November 17, 2021 press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announcing that Miranda Devlin, 37, of San Francisco was sentenced by United States District Judge Maxine M. Chesney to 18 months in federal prison for mail fraud under 18 USC § 1341 and false statements in a loan application under 18 USC § 1014. The release states that in her plea agreement Devlin admitted stealing the identities of two California attorneys and representing clients in court though she was never an attorney. It says she also admitted submitting false PPP applications for a shell company, Common Nucleus of Cancer, and receiving loans of $32,700 and $336,100, a total of $368,800. She was ordered to pay $565,355 in restitution, with 5 years of supervision.

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SAN FRANCISCO – Miranda Devlin, aka Miranda M., aka Miranda P., was sentenced today in United States District Court to 18 months in federal prison for making false statements in a loan application for federal government pandemic relief funds and for mail fraud involving the stealing of California attorneys’ identities and practicing law, announced Acting United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair, and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George.  The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Maxine M. Chesney.
Devlin, 37, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty on July 21, 2021.  In her plea agreement, Devlin described multiple crimes she committed from March 2012 through May 2020 to defraud individuals and the government.  In one of her schemes, Devlin – who has never been an attorney – admitted she stole the identities of two female attorneys licensed by the State Bar of California and deceived people into believing she was a licensed attorney.  Beginning in 2012, Devlin started to assume attorneys’ names and used their license numbers.  She even paid one attorney’s State Bar dues, without knowledge of the attorney, to keep the attorney’s license active.  Devlin further admitted to submitting change of address requests to the U.S. Postal Service in order to have other people’s mail forwarded to her, including one attorney’s State Bar license card.  Several people hired Devlin as their attorney.  Devlin admitted she represented multiple individuals in the courtrooms of Bay Area county Superior Courts.
Devlin further admitted engaging in a scheme to defraud the federal government’s pandemic relief program of $368,800.  To commit one fraud, Devlin submitted a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrower application form requesting money from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) program. The PPP arose out of the CARES Act passed by Congress in March 2020 that authorized forgivable PPP loans to small businesses, to promote job retention and cover specified business expenses during the pandemic.  Devlin’s PPP application contained several deliberately false statements that Devlin certified as true.  Her statements included that she had a business named Common Nucleus of Cancer (CNC) and that it had 2019 payroll expenses and also had paid taxes in 2019.  CNC was, however, only a shell company.  In her plea agreement, Devlin admitted that CNC had no employees and no business expenses.  Devlin admitted that with her PPP loan application she submitted false tax forms and records for 2019 as evidence of the salaries and business expenses she purportedly paid.  As a result of that application, Devlin received a PPP loan of $32,700.  Devlin admitted that she did not pay any purported business expenses or salaries with that money but rather used it for her own personal benefit.
Devlin further admitted that she continued the scheme and applied for and eventually received a larger, additional loan in the amount of $336,100 from the SBA.  In all, Devlin admitted that she unlawfully received a total of $368,800 from the SBA in government pandemic relief loans.
In addition to her 18 month prison sentence imposed for mail fraud in violation of 18 USC § 1341 and making false statements in a loan application in violation of 18 USC § 1014,  United District Judge Maxine M. Chesney ordered that Devlin pay restitution in the amount of $565,355.  The sentence also included a 5 year period of supervision following Devlin’s release from prison.
Devlin has been in custody since March 2, 2021, and begins her sentence immediately.
The United States Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Section prosecuted the case.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

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