Ocala Woman Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison for Theft of COVID Relief Funds

Summary

A December 14, 2023 press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida announcing that Senior United States District Judge Gregory A. Presnell sentenced Passion Lajodia Jackson, 31, of Ocala to two years in federal prison for wire fraud related to the CARES Act. Jackson was ordered to forfeit $20,132, the proceeds of the offense, and had pleaded guilty on September 11, 2023. The release states that on April 2, 2021 she submitted a PPP loan application with false statements and a fictitious Internal Revenue Service document. It says she received a $20,132 loan on April 6, 2021 and withdrew the funds in cash within 30 days.

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Full text

Ocala, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Gregory A. Presnell has sentenced Passion Lajodia Jackson (31, Ocala) to two years in federal prison for wire fraud related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. As part of the judgment, Jackson was ordered to forfeit $20,132, which represents the proceeds obtained from the offense. Jackson had pleaded guilty on September 11, 2023.
According to court records, on April 2, 2021, Jackson electronically submitted a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application to the Small Business Administration for an incorporated business. Her application included false statements. She also provided a fictitious Internal Revenue Service document in support of her application. Based on the fraudulent information, Jackson unlawfully received a PPP loan in the amount of $20,132 on April 6, 2021. The loan was electronically wired into her bank account. Within 30 days of receiving the loan, Jackson had withdrawn the funds in cash.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the City of Ocala Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Justice Department 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, 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 Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at
https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/webform/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form
.

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