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Two Women Charged with Wire Fraud for Stealing Millions in COVID Relief Funds (July 1, 2022)

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, dated July 1, 2022, announcing wire fraud charges over COVID-19 relief funds against Tequisha Solomon, 39, of Las Vegas, and Takara Hughes, 35, of Maplewood. According to court documents, beginning in June 2020 the two submitted fraudulent unemployment claims to California's Employment Development Department and other state agencies, falsely claiming to live in California and work as hairstylists, and applied for EIDL and PPP loans claiming to own cleaning service businesses. The release states that Solomon caused payment of at least $4.1 million and Hughes is responsible for at least $1.2 million. Solomon is charged with six counts of wire fraud and, in a separate indictment, Hughes with five counts.

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“Two Women Charged with Wire Fraud for Stealing Millions in COVID Relief Funds (July 1, 2022).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2022-07-06-two-women-charged-with-wire-fraud-for-stealing-millions-in-30c5c0fe09/, SHA-256 a2569c6bdf5025b9228d12cca4fda0ea4fb581fcdcf730ceff923e4a8e69e594.

Full text

                                      Department of Justice

                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office

                                         District of Minnesota


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              Friday, July 1, 2022

 Two Women Charged with Wire Fraud for Stealing Millions
               in COVID Relief Funds
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Two women have been charged with engaging in fraud schemes to steal millions
of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, beginning in June 2020, Tequisha Solomon, 39, of Las Vegas, and
Takara Hughes, 35, of Maplewood, defrauded California’s Employment Development Department
(EDD) and Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and other
state agencies, by submitting fraudulent claims and applications for unemployment benefits that
were authorized to provide relief to the American workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For
example, while Solomon and Hughes resided in Nevada or Minnesota, they falsely claimed that they
resided in Los Angeles or San Diego and worked as hairstylists in California. As a result, California’s
EDD paid Solomon at least $37,000 and Hughes at least $46,000 in unemployment benefits.

According to court documents, Solomon and Hughes also fraudulently applied for Economic Injury
Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) small business loans, falsely claiming
that they owned cleaning service businesses. As part of their fraud scheme, Solomon and Hughes
submitted numerous fraudulent claims on behalf of other people and charged a fee for submitting
those claims. In total, as a direct result of the material falsehoods and omissions, Solomon caused
the United States and multiple state agencies to pay out at least $4.1 million in fraudulent
unemployment benefits and EIDL and PPP small business loan proceeds. Hughes is responsible for
at least $1.2 million in fraudulent benefits and loan proceeds.

Solomon is charged with six counts of wire fraud. In a separate indictment, Hughes is charged with
five counts of wire fraud. The defendants are scheduled to make their initial appearances in U.S.
District Court before Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung on July 15, 2022.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor-Office
of Inspector General, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the St. Paul Police
Department and the California Employment Development Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew S. Ebert is prosecuting the cases.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Topic(s):                                               Component(s):
Coronavirus                                             USAO - Minnesota
Financial Fraud

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