Albany Woman Sentenced to Prison for COVID-19 Relief Fraud

Summary

A U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York press release dated 2022-11-08 announcing that Debra Hackstadt of Albany was sentenced to 16 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining 32 government-backed pandemic loans. According to the release, Hackstadt pled guilty to wire fraud on May 19, 2022, admitting that between April 30, 2020 and June 11, 2021 she obtained $1,615,546 through PPP loans and EIDLs issued to herself, relatives, acquaintances and companies she or relatives controlled. The release states that United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby ordered $1,696,324.96 in restitution and forfeiture of $254,812, the amount she personally obtained, plus a 2-year term of supervised release. It states that the scheme produced 27 PPP loans and five EIDLs.

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

“Albany Woman Sentenced to Prison for COVID-19 Relief Fraud.” Original at www.justice.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2022-11-08-albany-woman-sentenced-to-prison-for-covid-19-relief-fraud-be51ee74b1/, SHA-256 3e5c54c6ad2b44cac0ea9c697992df719ab4020c883e7a4367a117fc23c8b563.

Full text

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Debra Hackstadt, age 68, of Albany, was sentenced today to 16 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining 32 government-backed loans meant for businesses struggling with the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman stated: “Today’s sentence holds Debra Hackstadt accountable for a prolific fraud. She took advantage of an economically devastating pandemic and stole money that was earmarked for legitimate businesses struggling to stay afloat. With our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and prosecute those who have stolen from pandemic relief programs.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Janeen DiGuiseppi stated: “Debra Hackstadt defrauded government loan programs established to help small businesses recover from the devastating financial impacts of the pandemic. By lying to obtain multiple loans, Hackstadt took over a million dollars away from deserving companies who were in desperate need of support. Today’s sentence ensures she will answer for her criminal acts. The FBI, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and hold accountable anyone looking to steal money from these critical government programs.”
Hackstadt pled guilty to wire fraud on May 19, 2022. She admitted that between April 30, 2020 and June 11, 2021, she fraudulently obtained $1,615,546 from two pandemic relief loan programs – the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), whose loans are issued by private financial institutions and backed by the federal government, and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDLs”), which are issued directly by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). These loans were issued to Hackstadt herself, certain of her family members and acquaintances, and several companies controlled by Hackstadt or her family members.
United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby ordered Hackstadt to pay $1,696,324.96 in restitution and to forfeit an additional $254,812, representing the amount of money she personally obtained from the fraud. He also imposed a 2-year term of post-imprisonment supervised release.
Hackstadt committed the fraud by lying to the SBA and various PPP lenders on loan applications, including by making up and grossly overstating the number of employees and payrolls of the companies and sole proprietorships for which she obtained loans. Many of the PPP applications also included false tax documents that Hackstadt created as part of the scheme. In total, Hackstadt’s scheme resulted in the issuance of 27 PPP loans and five EIDLs.
Hackstadt also admitted that in addition to these loans, she fraudulently obtained two other business loans from private lenders. She fraudulently obtained a $42,290 loan in October-November 2019, and promptly defaulted on it, and fraudulently obtained a $48,500 loan in June 2021, and promptly defaulted on it.
This case was investigated by the FBI, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Barnett and Joshua R. Rosenthal.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit
https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at:
https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form
.

File and source

File: 2022-11-08_albany-woman-sentenced-to-prison-for-covid-19-relief-fraud_c56c19db.md.txt
Size: 4,390 bytes
SHA-256: 3e5c54c6ad2b44cac0ea9c697992df719ab4020c883e7a4367a117fc23c8b563
Our copy: 2022-11-08_albany-woman-sentenced-to-prison-for-covid-19-relief-fraud_c56c19db.md.txt
Original: www.justice.gov