Business Owner Sentenced After Receiving More than $1.6 Million in Funds from the CARES Act (OIG news release, June 16, 2025)

Summary

An OIG news release published June 16, 2025 by the Office of Inspector General. It reports that U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson announced that U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill sentenced Shawn Ray Murnan, of Windemere, Florida, to 33 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to four counts of bank fraud. The release states that Murnan was ordered to pay $1,641,796.47 in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). It says that from April 2020 through October 2021 Murnan admitted to falsifying CARES Act applications to the SBA, including for Blujett, LLC, and that he applied for the loans to be forgiven.

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OIG news release

Business Owner Sentenced After Receiving More than $1.6 Million in Funds from the CARES Act

Published on June 16, 2025 by Office of Inspector General

Click Here to View the Original U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Press Release

A former Oklahoma man with business ties in Florida was sentenced today after pleading guilty to four counts of bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill sentenced Shawn Ray Murnan, 57, of Windemere, Florida, to 33 months imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. Judge Hill further ordered Murnan to pay $1,641,796.47 in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

“In 2020, the CARES Act funding was established to provide emergency financial assistance to help businesses that were disrupted,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “Investigators and prosecutors are committed to finding those like Murnan who steal government funding and prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law.”

From April 2020 through October 2021, Murnan admitted to falsifying several CARES Act applications to the SBA. Murnan was the owner of numerous business ventures in Oklahoma, Florida, and other states. He submitted 14 applications on behalf of his businesses, including Blujett, LLC, which was based in Broken Arrow. He submitted applications claiming to have several employees and falsified his payroll expenses. Murnan requested more than two million and successfully received $1,641,796.47 from seven Paycheck Protection Program loans and two Economic Injury Disaster Loans. After receiving the funds, Murnan applied for the loans to be forgiven.

Previously released on bond, Murnan was taken into custody following the sentencing today, where he will remain pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

The Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of Inspector General for the Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Whipple prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division's prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Since the inception of the CARES Act, the Fraud Section has prosecuted over 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases and has seized over $75 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds. More information can be found at Justice.gov/OPA/pr/justice-department-takes-action-against-covid-19-fraud .

Related programs: COVID EIDL, Disaster, Pandemic Oversight, PPP

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