Two charged in $1.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud conspiracy
Summary
A release published 2023-12-06 states that Jonathan Flores and Bianca April Flores, a Houston area brother and sister, have been indicted for submitting fraudulent COVID-19 relief loans, as announced by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. The six-count indictment, returned Nov. 29, alleges one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. It alleges Jonathan and Bianca Flores conspired to submit nine false and fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications and allegedly falsified the number of employees and the average monthly payroll expenses. The charges allege that Jonathan and Bianca Flores fraudulently obtained approximately $1.2 million, and conspiracy carries up to five years in federal prison while wire fraud carries up to 20 years.
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
“Two charged in $1.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud conspiracy.”
Original at www.justice.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-12-06-two-charged-in-1-2-million-covid-19-relief-fraud-conspiracy-a6efdbee15/
, SHA-256 76766792cb818287ac26314e20effdc4bca98c3f2a28544e2da50daeb2adeb4e.Full text
HOUSTON – A Houston area brother and sister have been indicted for submitting fraudulent COVID-19 relief loans, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Jonathan Flores, 31, Willis, and Bianca April Flores, 29, Houston, are expected to make their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina A. Bryan at 2 p.m. The six-count indictment, returned Nov. 29, alleges both committed one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. According to the indictment, Jonathan and Bianca Flores conspired to submit nine false and fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications. They allegedly falsified the number of employees and the average monthly payroll expenses of the applicant businesses. According to the charges, Jonathan and Bianca Flores fraudulently obtained approximately $1.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds. If convicted, each face up to five years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while wire fraud carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison. FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin R. Martin is prosecuting the case. 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 . An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
File and source
- File
- 2023-12-06_two-charged-in-1-2-million-covid-19-relief-fraud-conspiracy_c05fccf5.md.txt
- Size
- 1,626 bytes
- SHA-256
- 76766792cb818287ac26314e20effdc4bca98c3f2a28544e2da50daeb2adeb4e
- Original
- www.justice.gov