Criminal Indictment — United States v. Denise Thomas (N.D. Ga., Dkt. 1, January 25, 2022)

Summary

Criminal Indictment in United States v. Denise Thomas, Case No. 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, Document 1, filed January 25, 2022. Counts One and Two charge wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343. The indictment alleges a scheme to obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan from Amur Equipment Finance, Inc. by submitting false documents about Pink Smoke Shooters Range & Gun Club Limited Co., including documents that created the appearance of paying over $9 million annually in payroll and employing sixty-one (61) employees. It alleges that Amur approved and funded the loan on or about March 16, 2021. A forfeiture provision lists Truist Bank account amounts and a money judgment for the proceeds obtained.

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“Criminal Indictment — United States v. Denise Thomas (N.D. Ga., Dkt. 1, January 25, 2022).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/court-filing-no-1-22-cr-00025-dkt-1-n-d-ga-0f37743529/, SHA-256 fa5abcdb077eb27fd169c875a7b19f80578892fa45c5dce49ab926105e34cf2b.

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Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 1 of 10

ORIGINAL
FILED IN CHAMBERS
U.S.D.C. Atlanta

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JAN 2 5 2022
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA p ^
ATLANTA DIVISION By:

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Criminal Indictment
V.

No. 1
DENISE THOMAS

THE GRAND JURY CHARGES THAT:

Counts One and Two
Wire Fraud
(18 U.S.C. § 1343)

1. From on or about January 13,2021, and continuing until at least on or about

December 28, 2021, within the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere/ the

defendant, DENISE THOMAS, did knowingly devise and intend to devise a

scheme and artifice to defraud/ and to obtain money and property, by means

of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations/ and promises/

and by emissions of material facts/ well knowing and having reason to know

that said pretenses were and would be false and fraudulent when made and

caused to be made and that said omissions were and would be material/ and m

so doing/ with the intent to defraud, caused interstate wire communications to

be made/ in furtherance of the scheme and artifice to defraud, in violation of

Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 2 of 10

Background

It is relevant to the Indictment that during the above-listed time period:

The Defendant

2. THOMAS/ a resident of Stone Mountain/ Georgia/ was the sole owner and

controller of Pink Smoke Shooters Range & Gun Club Limited Co. ("Pink

Smoke").

3. Pink Smoke was registered and affirmed by the Georgia Secretary of State

as a Domestic Limited Liability Company on June 15, 2020, with an effective

date of June 1,2020.

The Small Business Administration

4. The United States Small Business Administration (//SBA//) is an executive

branch agency of the United States government that provides support to

entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the SBA is to maintain and

strengthen the nation s economy by enabling the establishment and viability of

small businesses and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities

after disasters.

5. As part of this effort/ the SBA enables and provides for loans through banks/

credit unions/ and other lenders. These loans have government backed

guarantees.

The Pay check Protection Program.

6. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief/ and Economic Security ("CARES") Act was a

federal law enacted in or around March 2020 designed to provide emergency

financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the

economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 3 of 10

7. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of

up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and

certain other expenses through a program referred to as the Paycheck

Protection Program (//PPP//). Congress has since increased the authorization

amount for PPP loans to over $813 billion. To qualify for the PPP/ eligible small

businesses must have been in operation on or before February 15, 2020,

maintained employees, and realized monthly payroll costs.

8. To obtain a PPP loan/ a qualifying business must submit a PPP loan

application, which is signed by an authorized representative of the business.

The PPP loan application requires the business (through its authorized

representative) to acknowledge the program rules and make certain affirmative

certifications in order to be eligible to obtain the PPP loan. In the PPP loan

application/ a small business (through its authorized representative) must state/

among other things, its: (a) average monthly payroll expenses; and (b) number

of employees. These figures are used to calculate the amount of money the

small business is eligible to receive under the PPP. In addition, businesses

applying for a PPP loan must provide documentation of their payroll expenses.

9. A PPP loan application must be processed by a participating lender. If a PPP

loan application is approved/ the participating lender funds the PPP loan using

its own monies/ which are 100% guaranteed by the SBA. Data from the

application/ including information about the borrower/ the total amount of the

loan/ and the listed number of employees, is transmitted by the lender to the

SBA while processing the loan.
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 4 of 10

10. PPP loan proceeds must be used by the business on certain permissible

expenses — payroll costs/ interest on mortgages, rent/ and utilities. The PPP

allows the interest and principal on the PPP loan to be entirely forgiven if the

business spends the loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated

period after receiving the proceeds and uses a certain amount of the PPP loan

proceeds on payroll expenses.

Relevant Financial Institutions and Affiliates

11. Amur Equipment Finance, Inc. ( Amur ) is a commercial equipment

finance provider based in Grand Island/ Nebraska. Amur is an approved SBA

lender of PPP loans.

12. Wells Fargo Bank is a financial institution based in San Francisco/

California, that is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

(//FDIC//). Wells Fargo Bank is an approved SBA lender of PPP loans.

13. BB&T is a financial institution based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that is

insured by the FDIC. BB&T is an approved lender of PPP loans.

Purpose of the Scheme to Defraud

14. The purpose of the scheme was for THOMAS/ by submitting false and

fraudulent information about her business Pink Smoke/ to unlawfully obtain a

PPP loan from Amur and to use the fraudulently acquired PPP loan proceeds

to benefit herself/ in violation of the terms of the PPP loan agreement.

Manner and Means

15. The manner and means by which THOMAS carried out the scheme to

defraud included the following:
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 5 of 10

16. THOMAS submitted and caused to be submitted to Amur false and

fraudulent documents concerning Pink Smoke. The false and fraudulent

documents generally created the appearance that Pink Smoke was founded in

2015, paid over $9 million annually in payroll/ employed sixty-one (61)

employees/ and was solvent and operational with high volume cash flows. For

example/ THOMAS submitted/ and caused to be submitted, the following

records to Amur in connection with her application for a PPP loan:

a. A false and fraudulent Certificate of Organization from the Georgia

Secretary of State that claimed Pink Smoke was organized on June 15,

2015.

b. A false and fraudulent letter from the IRS that claimed Pink Smoke

received an IRS Employer Identification Number (//EIN//) on June 15,

2015.

c. A false and fraudulent 2019 IRS Form 940 ("Employer's Annual

Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return") for Pink Smoke that

claimed that the company paid $9/039/937.32 to its employees and

$54,239.62 in FUTA.

d. A false and fraudulent 2020 IPS Form 941 ("Employer's QUARTERLY

Federal Tax Return") for Pink Smoke that claimed that in the first tax

quarter of 2020, the company: (1) paid a total of $1/793/147.38 in

wages/ tips/ or other compensation, (2) had sixty-one employees/ and

(3) withheld $405/817.32 m federal income tax.

e. False and fraudulent bank statements for THOMAS and Pink Smoke

from BB&T for the months of January 2020 and February 2020 which

5
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 6 of 10

documented that the business had deposits of $1/863/052.61 (January

2020) and $1/618/892.24 (February 2020) and withdrawals of

$968,155.06 (January 2020) and $964/170.12 (February 2020).

17. In fact/ and in truth, (1) the Georgia Secretary of State issued the Certificate

of Organization for Pink Smoke on or about June I/ 2020; (2) the IRS EIN

number was created in or about June 2020; (3) from 2019 through the first

quarter of 2020, Pink Smoke did not make any tax fflings with the IRS/ pay

unemployment tax to the IRS, withhold federal income tax for employees/ or

have sixty-one employees; and (4) the BB&T account whose bank statements

THOMAS submitted to Amur as a part of the PPP loan application was opened

on or about June 29,2020, and did not have the withdrawal and deposit activity

represented.

18. It was also part of the scheme to defraud that THOMAS submitted a PPP

loan application to Amur in which she sought a loan of approximately

$1,214/090.00. In the PPP loan application/ THOMAS falsely certified that any

PPP funds loaned to Pink Smoke would be used to retain workers and fund

payroll, and to make mortgage interest payments/ lease payments/ and utility

payments. In fact/ as THOMAS well knew/ when she submitted the PPP loan

application she intended to spend (and did spend) the PPP money to benefit

herself.

19. On or about March 16, 2021, based on THOMAS'S false and fraudulent

misrepresentations, Amur approved and funded a PPP loan for Pink Smoke in

the amount of $1/214,090.00. The Controller of Amur/ while located in

Nebraska/ initiated an electronic transfer of the funds from Amur/s account

6
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 7 of 10

#2710 at Wells Fargo/ located in Nebraska. The electronic transfer order was

then transmitted from Nebraska to Wells Fargo's electronic wire processing

center m Shoreview, Minnesota via the internet/ which resulted in the transfer

of the loan proceeds to BB&T account #6743 controlled by THOMAS and

located in Georgia.

20. Shortly after receiving the proceeds of the PPP loan in BB&T account #6743,

THOMAS transferred and caused the transfer of some of the PPP loan proceeds

from account #6743 to the accounts #8995, #6778, #6735, and #6751 that she

also controlled at BB&T.

21. Using the PPP proceeds m accounts #6743, #8995, #6778, #6735, #6751,

THOMAS spent almost $61/000 of the loan funds/ including/ but not limited to:

a. On or about March 17, 2021, THOMAS spent $388.55 at Beauty Town

(#8995);
b. On or about March 18, 2021, THOMAS purchased a 2013 BMW X6 for

$25,000.00 ($8/200.00 from #6743 and $8/200.00 from #6778, and

$8/600.00 by check #8995);

c. On or about March 22, 2021, THOMAS spent $280.95 at UGG (#6743);

d. On or about March 19, 2021, THOMAS spent $654.87 at Venus Beauty

Supply (#6743);
f. On or about March 22, 2021, THOMAS spent $11,921.49 at Fendi/ a

luxury retailer ($5/450.00 from #6743) ($6/471.49 from #6778);

g. Between on or about March 18, 2021 and on or about March 25, 2021,

THOMAS depleted funds totaling $8/775.00 via Cash App transfer

(#6743 and #8995);
7
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 8 of 10

h. On or about March 22, 2021, THOMAS spent $430.60 at Hotel

Intercontinental in Atlanta (#6778);

i. On or about March 22-23, 2021, THOMAS spent $470.16 at Meridien

Hotels in Atlanta (#6778);

j. On or about March 22, 2021, THOMAS spent $2,665.79 on Amazon

(#8995);
k. On or about March 22, 2021, THOMAS spent $1/211.89 at Walgreens

(#8995);
1. On or about March 26, 2021, THOMAS spent $470.88 at Meridien

Hotels in Atlanta (#6743).

Execution of the Scheme

22. On or about each date set forth below/ in the Northern District of Georgia

and elsewhere/ THOMAS/ for the purpose of executing and attempting to

execute the scheme and artifice to defraud described above/ and for obtaining

money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses/

representations, promises/ and omissions/ with intent to defraud/ did cause to

be transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce,

certain writings/ signs/ signals/ pictures/ and sounds/ that is, the wire

communications described below:

COUNT DATE DESCRIPTION OF WIRE COMMUNICATION
1 1/13/2021 PPP Borrower Application Form submitted via the
internet to Amur containing false information related
to Pink Smoke s payroll expenses and the purpose of
the applied-for PPP loan
2 3/16/2021 Wire transfer of $1/214/090.00 from Amur/s Wells
Fargo account #2710 in Nebraska to BB&T account

8
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 9 of 10

#6743 in Georgia via Wells Fargo's electronic wire
processing center in Minnesota

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

Forfeihire Provision

23. Upon conviction of any of the violations of Title 18, United States Code/

Section 1343 charged in Counts One and Two/ the defendant shall forfeit to

the United States pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(a)(2)

and Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461 (c)/ all property constituting or

derived from proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly/ as a result of such

violation, including, but not limited to/ the following:

a. $106/804.47 which was maintained in Truist Bank account number

ending in 6735, held in the name of Miss Denise Thomas d/b/a Pink

Smoke Shooters Range & Gun Club;

b. $1/000/978.64 from Truist Bank account number ending in 6743, held in

the name of Miss Denise Thomas d/b/a Pink Smoke Shooters Range &

Gun Club;

c. $14,148.66 from Truist Bank account number ending in 6751, held in the

name of Miss Denise Thomas d/b/a Simply Delete It;

d. $235.03 from Truist Bank account number ending in 6778, held in the

name of Miss Denise Thomas d/b/a Simply Delete It; and

e. $30/995.34 from Truist Bank account number ending in 8995, held in the

name of Denise Thomas d/b/a Pink Smoke Shooters Range & Gun Club.

f. MONEY JUDGMENT: For the proceeds that the defendant obtained as

a result of the offenses charged in Counts One and Two.
Case 1:22-cr-00025-JPB-RDC Document 1 Filed 01/25/22 Page 10 of 10

24. If, as a result of any act or omission of the defendant/ any property subject

to forfeiture:

a. cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;

b. has been transferred or sold to/ or deposited with/ a third person;

c. has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the Court;

d. has been substantially diminished in value; or

e. has been commingled with other property which cannot be

subdivided without difficulty;

the United States intends, pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section

853(p)/ as incorporated by Title 28, United States Code/ Section 2461 (c)/ to seek

forfeiture of any other property of said defendant up to the value of the

forfeitable property.

A BILL
KURT R. ERSKINE
United States Attorney
;/ ^
^^2.%2^^ FOREPERSON
BERNITA MALLOY^
Assistant United States Attorney
Georgia Bar No. 718905

^. ^Sht^ji
CYNTHIA SMITH
Assistant United States Attorney
Georgia Bar No. 655473
600 U.S. Courthouse
75 Ted Turner Drive SW
Atlanta/ GA 30303
404-581-6000; Fax: 404-581-6181

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