Indictment — United States v. Julian J. Levons (M.D. Pa.)

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An Indictment in United States of America v. Julian J. Levons, Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, filed November 2, 2021 as Document 1. Count 1 charges wire fraud conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1349, Counts 2 through 6 wire fraud, Count 7 money laundering conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), and Counts 8 through 10 unlawful monetary transactions under 18 U.S.C. § 1957. The grand jury alleges that EIDL applications for Levons Rental, Branch Property and Corporation #1 each stated gross revenue of $350,000 and cost of goods of $20,000, and that approximately $149,900 in EIDL funds was deposited for each of the first two. It alleges the funds were used to pay down a line of credit and a mortgage and for personal expenses, and seeks forfeiture of approximately $299,800 in U.S. currency and other property.

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Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 1 of 18

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA /
No. 4 1x /-CR -3Y47)

Vv.

JULIAN J. LEVONS,

Defendant
INDICTMENT
THE GRAND JURY CHARGES:
Fy
Wire Fraud Conspiracy Noy On
18 U.S.C. § 1349 2 ayy,

I. Introduction

At times material to the Indictment:

Relevant Individuals and Entities

1. Defendant JULIAN J. LEVONS and his spouse, Tanya
| Levons, resided in or about Henryville, Monroe County, within the
Middle District of Pennsylvania.

2. Levons Rental was an unincorporated entity owned and
controlled by JULIAN J. LEVONS and Tanya Levons.

3. Branch Property was an unincorporated entity owned and

controlled by Tanya Levons and JULIAN J. LEVONS.
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 2 of 18

4. Corporation #1 was a limited liability company incorporated
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with a business address located
in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, within the Middle District of
Pennsylvania. Corporation #1.was incorporated on or about October 12,
2018, and was owned and controlled by Individual #1, a resident of
Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania.

5. Bank #1 was a was a federal credit union headquartered in
Vienna, Virginia, and whose deposits were insured by the National
Credit Union Administration.

6. Bank#2wasa financial institution insured by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation and headquartered in San Antonio,
Texas.

7. Bank #3 was a financial institution insured by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation and headquartered in Charlotte, North
Carolina.

8. The United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”)
was an executive branch agency of the United States government that
provided support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of
the SBA included maintaining and strengthening the nation’s economy

by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by
2
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 3 of 18

assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters. As
part of those efforts, the SBA enabled and provided for loans with
government-backed guarantees to small business owners through
financial institutions and other lenders. The SBA also provided direct
loans.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program

9. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
(“CARES”) Act was a federal law enacted in March 2020 that provided
emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering
financial difficulties from the economic impact of the COVID-19
pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the
expansion of an existing disaster-related program — the Economic Injury
Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) — to provide low-interest financing (including
forgivable $10,000 advances) to small businesses and other eligible
entities. The CARES Act authorized the SBA to provide EIDL loans to
eligible small businesses experiencing substantial financial disruption
resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

10. To obtain an EIDL loan, a qualifying business was required
to submit an application directly to the SBA and provide information

about the business’s operations, such as the number of employees, gross
3
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 4 of 18

revenues for the 12-month period preceding the disaster, and cost of
goods sold in the 12-month period preceding the disaster. In the case of
EIDL loans for COVID-19 relief, the 12-month period was the 12-month
period from January 31, 2019, to January 31, 2020. The applicant was |
also required to certify that all of the information in the application was
true and correct to the best of the applicant’s knowledge.

11. EIDL loan applications were submitted directly to the SBA
and processed by the agency with support from a government
contractor. The amount of the loan, if the application was approved, |
was determined based, in part, on the information provided by the
applicant about employment, revenue, and cost of goods sold. Any funds
issued under an EIDL loan were issued directly by the United States
Treasury.

12. Asa general matter, EIDLs carried interest rates of 3.75%
for for-profit corporations and 2.75% for non-profit corporations. The
first payment on an EIDL loan was deferred for 12 months.

13. EIDL proceeds could only be used to pay fixed debts, payroll,
accounts payable and other bills that could have been paid had the
disaster not occurred; however, such loan proceeds were not intended to

replace lost sales or profits or for expansion of a business. Moreover,
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Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 5 of 18

EIDL proceeds could not be used to “Irlefinance indebtedness which you
incurred prior to the disaster event.” 13 C.F.R. § 123.303(b)(1).
II. Objects of the Scheme to Defraud

14. The objects of the scheme were for JULIAN J. LEVONS and
his coconspirators to enrich themselves and to refinance pre-existing
debts at a lower interest rate, by fraudulently obtaining EIDL funds
through misrepresentations and false documentation.
Ill. Statutory Allegations

15. From on or about July 8, 2020, to on or about March 17,
2021, in Monroe County, within the Middle District of Pennsylvania,
and elsewhere, the defendant,

JULIAN J. LEVONS,

knowingly and unlawfully combined, conspired, confederated and
agreed together and with other persons known to the Grand Jury, to
knowingly devise, and intend to devise, a scheme and artifice to defraud
the SBA, and to obtain money and property by means of materially false
and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, and for the
purpose of executing the scheme and artifice to defraud, and attempting
to do so, transmitted and caused to be transmitted by means of wire

communication in interstate commerce writings, signs, signals, pictures
5
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 6 of 18

. \
and sounds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

IV. Manner and Means of the Scheme
It was part of the conspiracy and scheme and artifice to defraud
that JULIAN J. LEVONS and his coconspirators employed the following

manner and means:

A. Levons Rental EIDL

16. On or about July 8, 2020, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his
coconspirator submitted and caused to be submitted to the SBA an
EIDL loan application for Levons Rental that contained material
misrepresentations, by use of the internet and interstate wires. The
misrepresentations included the statements that Levons Rental had a
gross revenue of $350,000, and a cost of goods of $20,000, when in fact it
did not.

17. Onor about July 13, 2020, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his
coconspirator deposited and caused to be deposited approximately
$149,900 in EIDL funds issued by the SBA, by use of interstate wires,
as a result of the EIDL application submitted for Levons Rental,

credited to a checking account in the name of JULIAN J. LEVONS and

Tanya Levons at Bank #1.
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 7 of 18

18. On or about July 17, 2020, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his
coconspirator transferred and caused to be transferred approximately
$15,136.88 of EIDL funds, by use of interstate wires, from the checking
account in the name of JULIAN J. LEVONS and Tanya Levons at Bank
#1, to pay down a line of credit at Bank #1 held in the name of JULIAN
J. LEVONS and Tanya Levons, which bore an interest rate of
approximately 15.90%.

19. On or about July 21, 2020, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his
coconspirator transferred and caused to be transferred approximately
$44,666.55 of EIDL funds, by use of interstate wires, from the checking
account in the name of JULIAN J. LEVONS and Tanya Levons at Bank
#1, to Bank #3, to pay down a deed of trust, 7e., mortgage, issued to
JULIAN J. LEVONS, for a property located at 1508 Beachview Drive in
Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which bore an interest rate of
approximately 6.5%.

20. Between on or about July 13, 2020 and on or about March
17, 2021, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his coconspirator used and caused to
be used EIDL funds issued by the SBA to Levons Rental, for personal

expenses.
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 8 of 18

B. Branch Property EIDL

21. Onor about July 10, 2020, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his
coconspirator submitted and caused to be submitted to the SBA an
EIDL loan application for Branch Property that contained material
misrepresentations, by use of the internet and interstate wires. The
misrepresentations included the statements that Branch Property had
an annual gross revenue of $350,000, and a cost of goods of $20,000,
when in fact it did not.

22. Onor about July 14, 2020, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his
coconspirator deposited and caused to be deposited approximately
$149,900 in EIDL funds issued by the SBA, by use of interstate wires,
as a result of the EIDL application submitted for Branch Property,
credited to a checking account in the name of Tanya Levons at Bank #1.

23. Onor about July 24, 2020, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his
coconspirator transferred and caused to be transferred approximately
$150,000, by use of interstate wires, from the checking account in the
name of Tanya Levons at Bank #1, to a checking account in the name of

Tanya Levons at Bank #2.
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 9 of 18

C. Corporation #1 EIDL

24. Onor about July 10, 2020, JULIAN J. LEVONS and his
coconspirators submitted and caused to be submitted to the SBA an
EIDL loan application for Corporation #1 that contained material
misrepresentations, by use of the internet and interstate wires. The
misrepresentations included the statements that Corporation #1 had an
annual gross revenue of $350,000, and a cost of goods of $20,000, when
in fact it did not.

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 10 of 18

THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES:

COUNTS 2 THROUGH 6
Wire Fraud
18 U.S.C. § 138438

25. The factual allegations in paragraphs 1 through 13 and 16
through 24 are incorporated here.

26. From onor about J uly 8, 2020, to on or about March 17,
2021, in Monroe County, within the Middle District of Pennsylvania,
and elsewhere, the defendant,

JULIAN J. LEVONS,
aiding and abetting others and aided and abetted by others, having
devised and intended to devise the above-described scheme and artifice
to defraud and to obtain money and property by means of materially
false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and for
the purpose of executing the above-described scheme and artifice to
defraud, and attempting to do so, caused to be transmitted by means of
wire communication in interstate commerce the following writings,

signs, signals, pictures, and sounds, with each being a separate count:

Count | Approximate Description
Date of Wire

2 July 8, 2020 | EIDL application sent by the internet and
interstate wires to the SBA, for Levons Rental,

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Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 11 of 18

containing material misrepresentations,
including that Levons Rental had a gross
revenue of $350,000, and a cost of goods of
$20,000, when in fact it did not.

3 July 10,
2020

EIDL application sent by the internet and
interstate wires to the SBA, for Branch
Property, containing material
misrepresentations, including that Branch
Property had a gross revenue of $350,000, and
a cost of goods of $20,000, when in fact it did
not

4 July 18,
2020

EIDL application sent by the internet and
interstate wires to the SBA, for Company #1,
containing material misrepresentations,
including that Company #1 had a gross
revenue of $350,000, and a cost of goods of
$20,000, when in fact: it did not.

5 July 21,
2020

Phone call from Pennsylvania to Bank #1 in
Virginia, to initiate a wire transfer request of
$44,666.55 from the checking account in the
name of JULIAN J. LEVONS and Tanya
Levons at Bank #1, to Bank #8, to pay down a
deed of trust issued to JULIAN J. LEVONS,
for a property located at 1508 Beachview
Drive in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

6 | July 24,
2020

Phone call from Pennsylvania to Bank #1 in
Virginia, to initiate a wire transfer request of
$150,000 from the checking account in the
name of Tanya Levons at Bank #1, toa
checking account in the name of Tanya Levons
at Bank #2.

Tn violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343, 1349,

and 2.
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 12 of 18

THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES:

COUNT 7
Money Laundering Conspiracy
18 U.S.C. § 1956(h)

27. The factual allegations of paragraphs 1 through 13, and 16
; through 23 are incorporated here.
28. From on or about July 13, 2020, to on or about July 24, 2020,
_in Monroe County, within the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and
elsewhere, the defendant,

JULIAN J. LEVONS,
did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate and agree with another
person known to the Grand Jury, to commit offenses against the United
States in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957,
namely, to knowingly engage and attempt to engage, in monetary
transactions by, through, and to a financial institution, affecting
interstate and foreign commerce, in criminally derived property ofa
value greater than $10,000, such property having been derived from a
specified unlawful activity, that is, wire fraud, in violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1343, all in violation of Title 18, United

States Code, Section 1957.

12
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 13 of 18

Manner and Means

The manner and means used to accomplish the objectives of the
conspiracy included, among others, the following:

29. JULIAN J. LEVONS and his coconspirator, aiding and
abetting each other, transferred and deposited, and caused to be
transferred and deposited, criminally derived property of a value
greater than $10,000 from the checking account in the name of JULIAN
J. LEVONS and Tanya Levons at Bank #1, to a line of credit at Bank #1
held in the name of JULIAN J. LEVONS and Tanya Levons.

30. JULIAN J. LEVONS and his coconspirator, aiding and
abetting each other, transferred and deposited, and caused to be
transferred and deposited, criminally derived property of a value
greater than $10,000 from the checking account in the name of JULIAN
J. LEVONS and Tanya Levons at Bank #1, to Bank #3.

31. JULIAN J. LEVONS and his coconspirator, aiding and
abetting each other, transferred and deposited, and caused to be
transferred and deposited, criminally derived property of a value
greater than $10,000 from the checking account in the name of Tanya
Levons at Bank #1, to a checking account in the name of Tanya Levons

at Bank #2.
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Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 14 of 18

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h).

THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES:

COUNTS 8 THROUGH 10 .
Unlawful Monetary Transactions
18 U.S.C. § 1957

32. The factual allegations of paragraphs 1 through 18, and 16
through 23 are incorporated here.

33. On or about the dates set forth below, in Monroe County,
within the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, the
defendant,

JULIAN J. LEVONS,
aiding and abetting others and aided and abetted by others, did
knowingly engage in the following monetary transactions by, through,
and to a financial institution, affecting interstate and foreign commerce,
in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000, that is,
the withdrawal, transfer, and exchange of U.S. currency and funds, such
property having been derived from a specified unlawful activity,
namely, wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section

1348, with each transfer set forth below a separate count:

14
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 15 of 18

Count | Approximate

Date

Financial Transaction

July 17, 2020

Wire transfer of $15,136.88 from the checking
account in the name of JULIAN J. LEVONS

| and Tanya Levons at Bank #1, to a line of credit

at Bank #1 held in the name of JULIAN J.
LEVONS and Tanya Levons.

July 21, 2020

Wire transfer of $44,666.55 from the checking
account in the name of JULIAN J. LEVONS
and Tanya Levons at Bank #1, to Bank #8, to
pay down a deed of trust issued to JULIAN J.
LEVONS, for a property located at 1508
Beachview Drive in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

10

July 24, 2020

Wire transfer of $150,000 from the checking
account in the name of Tanya Levons at Bank
#1, to a checking account in the name of Tanya
Levons at Bank #2.

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1957 and

15
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 16 of 18

FORFEITURE ALLEGATION ©

34. The allegations contained in Counts 1 through 10 of this
Indictment are hereby realleged and incorporated by reference for the
purpose of alleging forfeiture pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, -
Section 981(a)(1)(C), Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461, and
Title 18, United States Code, Section 982.

35. Upon conviction of the offenses in violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Sections 1343, 1349, 1956(h), and 1957, the
defendant,

JULIAN J. LEVONS,

shall forfeit to the United States of America, pursuant to Title 18,
United States Code, Section 981(a)(1)(C), Title 28, United States Code,
Section 2461(c), and Title 18, United States Code, Section 982, any
property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds
traceable to the offenses, and any property used, or intended to be used,
in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of the
offenses, including but not limited to: |

a. Approximately $299,800 in U.S. currency;

b. $60,106.99 in funds seized from the checking account in

the name of JULIAN J. LEVONS and Tanya Levons at
16
Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document 1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 17 of 18

Bank #1, ending in -7702, on or about March 17, 2021;

c. $149,900 in funds seized from the checking account in the
name of Tanya Levons at Bank #2, ending in -8889, on or
about March 17, 2021; and

d. the real property located at 1508 Beachview Drive, Ocean
Springs, Mississippi.

36. If any of the property described above, as a result of any act
or omission of the defendant:
a. cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;
b. has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third
party;
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
divided without difficulty,
the United States of America shall be entitled to forfeiture of substitute
property pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p), as
incorporated by Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c).
All pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 981(a)(1)(C),

Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c), and Title 18, United
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Case 3:21-cr-00340-MEM Document1 Filed 11/02/21 Page 18 of 18

States Code, Section 982.

TRUE BILL BRUCE D. BRANDLER
Acting United States Attorney

PHILLIP J. CARABALLO
Assistant United States Attorney

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