Kanawha County Woman Sentenced for COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme — Krista Marie Menchaca, Cross Lanes

Summary

A press release published 2025-08-12 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia announcing that Krista Marie Menchaca, 32, of Cross Lanes, was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber to three years of federal probation and ordered to pay $21,963.96 in restitution for receipt of stolen money. According to the release, Menchaca received $19,395 in proceeds from a fraudulent PPP loan, which was deposited on or about July 2, 2021, and she admitted that the application and an attached IRS Form 1040 falsely represented her as a self-employed health practitioner. It states that she spent more than $5,000 of the proceeds on personal expenses and gives the case number as 2:25-cr-68.

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Full text

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Krista Marie Menchaca, 32, of Cross Lanes, was sentenced today to three years of federal probation and ordered to pay $21,963.96 in restitution for receipt of stolen money. Menchaca received $19,395 in proceeds from a criminally derived Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loan, guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
According to court documents and statements made in court, on May 12, 2021, an individual submitted a PPP loan application on Menchaca’s behalf to a program lender in Arizona. As part of her guilty plea, Menchaca admitted that the application and an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1040, Schedule C Profit or Loss from Business, filed with it falsely represented that Menchaca was a self-employed health practitioner who received $93,100 in gross income during 2000. Menchaca further admitted that the IRS Form 1040 was fake and created solely to obtain a fraudulent PPP loan.
The lender approved the fraudulent loan application and $19,395 was deposited in Menchaca’s personal bank account on or about July 2, 2021. While in West Virginia, Menchaca spent more than $5,000 of the PPP loan proceeds on her personal expenses.
The CARES Act made forgivable PPP loans available to qualifying sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed individuals adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, to replace their normal income and for certain other expenses. Applicants were required to certify that they were in operation on February 15, 2020, and provide documentation showing their prior gross income from either 2019 or 2020.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the West Virginia State Police – Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).
Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage prosecuted the case.
Individuals with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 are encouraged to report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at:
https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form
.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the
U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on
PACER
by searching for Case No. 2:25-cr-68.
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