Charlotte Woman Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges for $1.5 Million COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

Summary

A release published 2023-07-25 states that Jeannetta Blackmon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering for obtaining more than $1.5 million in fraudulent PPP and EIDL program loans, announced by Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to filed plea documents, from April 2020 to November 2021, Blackmon executed a scheme to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and SBA-backed lenders. The release states that Blackmon received more than $319,000 in disaster relief funds, and that Blackmon's customers received more than $1.2 million after paying more than $300,000 in loan preparation fees. The wire fraud charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the money laundering offense a maximum of 10 years.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jeannetta Blackmon, also known as Jeannetta Regan, 48, of Charlotte, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and money laundering for obtaining more than $1.5 million in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Relief Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program loans for herself and her customers, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in North Carolina joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.
According to filed plea documents, other court filings, and Blackmon’s admissions during the plea hearing, from April 2020 to November 2021, Blackmon executed a scheme to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and SBA-backed lenders by obtaining fraudulent COVID-19 disaster relief funds for her businesses, J Renee Enterprises, Jeannetta Renee Girls Talk (JR Girls Talk), and Jrenee Investments (JR Investments). To obtain the relief funds, Blackmon submitted applications and supporting documents that contained false and fraudulent information regarding her businesses’ income, number of employees, gross revenues, and expenses. Blackmon also created and submitted fabricated bank statements and checks, in furtherance of the scheme. As a result of the fraudulent loan applications, Blackmon received more than $319,000 in disaster relief funds.
Blackmon also admitted to obtaining more than $300,000 in loan preparation fees from customers who paid Blackmon to prepare and submit on their behalf PPP and EIDL loan applications that contained false information, to include false employment data, inflated business income and expenses, and false tax information. Based on the fraudulent information, Blackmon’s customers received more than $1.2 million in disaster relief funds. To avoid detection, Blackmon directed her customers to pay her fees in checks or peer-to-peer payments.
Blackmon was released on bond after her plea hearing. The wire fraud charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for the money laundering offense is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley is in charge of the prosecution.
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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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
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
www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form
.

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