Yashica Sherea Bain — Affidavit, Paycheck Protection Program
Summary
Affidavit of Beatriz Feito, a Special Agent with IRS-CI, in support of a criminal complaint charging Yashica Sherea Bain with wire fraud, bank fraud, and attempt and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud in the Southern District of Florida. The affidavit states that Bain transferred approximately $65,000 from a bank account to another bank account in the name of MBS. It states that approximately $53,503 was withdrawn from that account and that a cashier's check for $8,000 was made payable to Midtown Lounge 55.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
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“Yashica Sherea Bain — Affidavit, Paycheck Protection Program.”
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CRIM INAL COM PLAINT
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fraud and bankfraud
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A FFID AV IT
1,Beatriz Feito,being firstduly sw orn,hereby depose and state as follow s:
IN TRO DU CTIO N AN D AG ENT BAC K G RO U ND
I m ake this Affidavit in support of a crim inal com plaint charging YA SH ICA
SHEREA BAIN (CCBAIN''or tiDefendant''),with wire fraud,bank fraud,and attempt and
conspiracytocommitwirefraudandbankfraud,inviolationofl8 U.S.C.jj l343,l344,1349,
and 2,from on oraboutM ay 22,2020,to atleaston oraboutA ugust 14,2020,in the Southern
DistrictofFlorida,and elsewhere(theik-l-argetOffenses'').
Defendanthasparticipated in a conspiracy and schem e to obtain by fraud m illions
of dollars in forgivable Ioans through the Paycheck Protection Program (:tPPP'') and other
governmentprogram s. Defendantcom m itted the TargetO ffensesw ith a person now cooperating
with the investigation (EECHS 2'')and others. Defendantobtained a fraudulentPPP Ioan forher
own com pany, M icroblading Brow Studio, LLC (%'M BS''), with CHS 2 providing falsified
docum entsand subm itting the application on Defendant'sbehalfin exchange fora kickback from
the loan proceeds. To intlate the size ofthese PPP loans,and the corresponding kickbacks,the
conspirators relied on a variety of false statem ents, including by subm itting falsified bank
statem ents and payrolltax fonns. Forexam ple,the conspiratorsused nearly identicalversionsof
thesam efabricated bank statem ents,recycled inthe PPP applicationsform ultiplecom panies,w ith
m inorchanges.
The conspirators in the schem e planned or prepared at least 90 fraudulent
applications,m ostofwhich were subm itted. Based on the evidence investigators have reviewed
to date,C HS 2,D efendant,and theirco-conspiratorsapplied forPPP loansthatare togetherworth
more than $34 m illion,with atIeastapproximately 42 ofthose loansapproved and funded fora
totalofapproximately $17.6 million. Certain ofthose loan recipientsthen wired a kickback of
varying am ounts, often approxim ately 25% of the fraudulent loan proceeds, to an account
controlled by CH S 2.
Iam a SpecialAgentwith the United States Departm entofthe Treasury,Internal
RevenueService,CriminalInvcstigation(t:IRS-Cl'')andhavebeenemployedinthiscapacitysince
January 20 l9. Iam presently assigned to the M iam iField Office. M y duties asa SpecialAgent
includetheinvestigation ofpossiblecriminalviolationsofthe lnternalRevenueCode (Title26of
theUnitedStatesCode),theBankSecrecyAct(Title31oftheUnitedStatesCode),andtheM oney
Laundering Statutes (Title l8 of the United States Code). I graduated from the Criminal
InvestigatorTraining Program atthe FederalLaw Enforcem entTraining Centerin M ay 2019 and
the Special Agent Investigative Techniques program at the N ational Crim inal Investigation
Training Academ y in August20l9. In thesetwo program s,Istudied a variety oflaw enforcem ent
tactics and crim inalinvestigatortechniques relating to tax and financialcrim es. Since becom ing
an IRS-CISpecialAgent,lhave personally investigated and assisted in investigations relating to
the lnternalRevenue Laws and financialcrim es. Recently,Ihave been assigned to work w ith the
U .S.Departm entofJustice and other Iaw enforcem entpartners,including the FederalBureau of
lnvestigation and the Sm allBusiness Adm inistration O ffice of lnspector General,to investigate
possible fraud associated w ith the stim ulus and econom ic assistance program s created by the
federalgovernm entin response to the CO VID-I9 pandem ic.
The facts in thisA ffidavitcom e from m y personalobservations,m y training and
experience,and inform ation obtained from otherm em bersofIaw enforcem entand from w itnesses.
Page 2 of17
This Affidavitis intended to show m erely thatthere issufficientprobable cause and does notset
forth aIlofm y know ledge aboutthism atter.l
PR OBA BLE CAU SE
ThePavcheck Protection Prozram
ThcCoronavirusAid,Relief,and EconomicSecurity (ûûCARES'')Actwasafederal
1aw enacted in or around M arch 2020 and designed to provide em ergency financialassistance to
the m illions of A m ericans w ho are suffering the econom ic effects caused by the COVID-I9
pandem ic. O ne source of reliefprovided by the CARES Actwasthe authorization offorgivable
loanstosmallbusinessesforjobretentionandcertainotherexpenses,throughaprogram referred
toasthePaycheck Protection Program (k;PPP'').
In order to obtain a PPP Ioan, a qualifying business subm itted a PPP loan
application,w hich was signed by an authorized representative of the business. The PPP loan
application required the business (through its authorized representative) to acknowledge the
program rulesand m ake certain affirm ative certifications in orderto be eligible to obtain the PPP
loan.InthePPP loanapplication (SmaIIBusinessAdministration ($$SBA'')Form 2483),thesmall
business(through itsauthorized representative)wasrequired to provide,among otherthings,its:
(a)averagemonthly payrollexpenses'
,and (b)numberofem ployees.Thesefigureswereused to
calculate the am ount of m oney the sm all business was eligible to receive under the PPP. In
addition,businessesapplying fora PPP loan w ere required to provide docum entation confirm ing
theirpayrollexpenses.
l The conductand chargesdescribed in this Affsdavitare partofa Iargerinvestigation that
is being conducted in this District and elsew here. As a result, not aIInum bered sources and
anonym ous individualsand entitiesare described in every filing. Ihave included in thisAffidavit
only those individualsand entitiesIhave deem ed necessary to explain the particularfactssetforth
here.
Page 3 of17
A PPP Ioan application was processed by a participating lender. lf a PPP loan
application was approved,the participating lender funded the PPP loan using its own m onies.
W hile itw as the participating lenderthat issued the PPP loan,the loan was 100% guaranteed by
the SBA . Data from the application,including inform ation aboutthe borrower,the totalam ount
ofthe Ioan,and the listcd num berofem ployees,wastransm itted by the Ienderto the SBA in the
course ofprocessing the loan.
PPP loan proceeds were required to be used by the businesson certain perm issible
expenses payrollcosts,intereston m ortgages,rent,and utilities. The PPP allow ed the interest
and principalon the PPP loan to be entirely forgiven ifthe business spentthe Ioan proceeds on
these expense item sw ithin a designated period oftim e and used a defined portion ofthe PPP loan
proceedson payrollexpenses.
FinancialInstitutions
l0. ThisAffidavitreferencesfinancialinstitutionsthatare headquartered in the United
Statesand insured by the FederalDepositInsurance Corporation,including Bank 1,Bank 3,Bank
5,Bank 6,and Bank 7.
The Schem e to Obtain FraudulentPPP Loans
On oraboutM ay l3,2020,Phillip J.Augustin (ilAugustin'')and CHS 2 worked
togetherto subm ita fraudulentPPP loan application on behalfofa com pany owned by A ugustin.
Augustin submitted a PPP Ioan of$84,515 to a federally insured bank (hereinafteriiBank 35-),
through a third-party company processor (hereinafter bkBank Processor 19-). The application
Page 4 of17
included bank statem entsthatare clearforgeries,and CHS 2 hasadm itted thattheapplication w as
based on docum entsthathe falsified forA ugustin.z
Follow ing the successofthatinitialfraudulentPPP application,Augustin and CHS
2 began to work on obtaining m ore and larger PPP loans for A ugustin's associates and others,
gencrally forseveralhundredthousanddollarsforeach loan,uptoasmuchasapproximately $1.24
m illion. Based on the evidence investigators have reviewed so far, CH S 2 and Augustin
collectively coordinatedapplicationsforPPP Ioansthataretogetherworth morethan $34 m illion
dollars.Theevidencealso showsmany morePPPloanswereattemptedbutrejectedbybanksor
their partners, or w ere planned and prepared, but not subm itted before CHS 2's arrest. The
evidence suggests that aIl or nearly aII of those Ioan applications were fraudulent, including
D efendant'sIoan application.
Investigators have obtained many other PPP Ioan applications that CH S
adm itted he subm itted aspal'
tofthisschem e,based on falsified docum ents,and have also obtained
draftdocum entsused orintended to be used in those applicationsorothers. These applicationsall
follow the sam e pattern of fraud- m any with obviously counterfeit February 2020 bank
statements,and allwith fabricated IRS Forms 94l(titled,ûtEmployer's Quarterly FederalTax
Return'')withthesameindiciaoffraudfound inAugustin'sinitialapplication butgenerallywith
2 O n June 25, 2020,investigatorsarrested CH S 2 and anotherperson now cooperating w ith
theinvestigation ('ûCHS 3--)andexecutedsearchwarrantsattheirresidences.Followinghisarrest,
C HS 2 chose to cooperate w ith the investigation in the hope ofobtaining favorable consideration
in connection w ith hispending charges. CHS 2 w as interviewed on thatday,and hascontinued to
cooperate w ith the investigation after obtaining counsel. M ost of his statem ents related herein
have been corroborated by records obtained from third parties or recovered from his electronic
devices.
Page 5 of17
even largerintlated payrollnum bers,thus yielding m uch largerIoans.3 CHS 2 has explained to
investigatorsthatthe figures in the Form s 94l were the productofa form ula thatallowed him to
startw ith atargetIoan am ount,and then -iback into''the payrollfigureson the form . Heexplained
how he used figuresthatw ould produce an average m onthly payrollfor20l9 that,when m ultiplied
by 2.5,would yicld the requcsted Ioan am ount. In turn,the num bcr ofem ployees reported was
chosen based on tsctionalpayrollfigures,chosen to avoid an average em ployee salary thatm ight
raise suspicion.
14. CH S 2 has also explained that he tried to use bank statem ents show ing thatthe
com pany had a large balance. Because so few com panies had such a statem ent,and likely also
because itwaseasierthan keeping track oftheirtrue statem ents,CHS 2 repeatedly subm itted near-
replicas ofthe sam e falsified bank statem ents. ln particular,CHS 2 appearsto have recycled one
statem enteach from Bank l,Bank 6,and Bank 7. In recycling a statem ent, CHS 2 generally
changed only the account num ber and the account holder's nam e and address, such that each
version ofthe statem enthad identicalfiguresand Iine item sthroughoutthe statem ent.
A review ofrecords forbank accounts controlled by CHS 2 at Bank 5 confirm ed
CHS 2's adm issions that he received num erous kickbacks,often of approxim ately 25% of the
am ountof the Ioans,and that he regularly w ired Augustin a share of thatkickback in the early
stagesofthe scheme. CHS 2 explained thatthey were doing so m any loans by the end ofM ay that
he changed course,instead w iring largerIum p sum s,collecting Augustin'ssharesofthe kickbacks
form ultiple loans in one w ire.
3 Som e loan applications also included voided checks thatappearto be falsifsed, such as a
purported check from abank (ttBank 5'5)thatappearsto havebeen produced on a computerand,
asthesubjectlineofanemailtransmittingthevoided checkread,blconvertedto PDF(,1''rather
than a scan ofan authentic check.
Page 6 of17
l6. Investigators are stillreceiving and analyzing records,butbased on a prelim inary
analysis,asofAugust31,2020,investigatorshad identifiedatotalofapproximately$2,367,765.82
in transfersto CHS 2'saccountsfrom entitiesthateach obtained a sizable PPP Ioan and thatwere
identified in the PPP files seized from CH S 2's and another co-conspirator's residences,as
described below orfrom individualsassociated withthoseentities.
The PPP loans identified above as implicated in the foregoing kickback paym ents
to CH S 2 represent only a fraction of the overallscheme. In executing search warrants atthe
respective residencesof CHS 2 and CHS 3,federalagents found stacks ofpaper printed outand
organized by entity,containing an tûintake form ,'-fabricated Form s 94 l,or both foreach entity.
The intake form scontained fseldsforthe inform ation needed to fabricate the docum ents and t5ll
outotheraspects ofthe PPP application:identifying inf-
ormation aboutthe ow nerand com pany,
asw ellas bank accountinform ation forreceiving the loan.A section attheend m arked 'CBELO W
IS OFFICE USE ONLY'*included blank fields forthe SdNumber of Employeesg,j''ûkM onthly
PayrollExpenseg,l''and -SSBA Loan Pre-ApprovalAmount.'' Between CHS 2's and CHS 3's
residences,investigatorsseized paperfilesforPPP Ioan applicationsforapproxim ately 80 different
entities.
18. Data obtained from the SBA showed additional PPP loan applications from
additional entities that text m essage and em ailrecords show had been referred to CHS 2 by
m em bersofthe conspiracy.
The FraudulentPPP Loan D isbursed to M BS
19. According to Florida's Division of Corporations website (:1Sunbiz''),M BS was
established asa Florida Iim ited Iiability com pany on oraboutFebruary 9,2017*
, BA IN is listed as
one ofthe com pany'stw o m anagersand asthe registered agent;and the principaladdressofM BS
is2501 S.W .101stA venue,Unit//106,M iram ar,Florida33025.
Page 7 of17
On orabout M ay 23,2020,a PPP loan application and supporting docum ents on
behalf of M BS were electronically subm itted, via interstate w ire, to Bank 3 through Bank
Processorl. The Ioanapplicationpackage included,among otherdocuments:(1)fourpurported
Forms94lforeachquarterof2019 inthenameofM BS;(2)apurported companybank statement
forM BS from Bank 6;and(3)aBorrowerApplicationForm foraPPP loanrequestof$4l5,232
forM BSbaseduponapurported averagemonthlypayrollof$166,093 for21employees(the'CPPP
Application Form'').4
The purported Form s 94I subm itted w ith M BS'S PPP Ioan application package
show quarterly payrollofover$300,000 each quarter,and do notstatethe numberofemployees
who were paid w ages. Thatquarterly payrollfigure yielded the PPP loan application's tûAverage
M onthly Payroll''figure of$166,093,which determined the $4l5,232 amountofthe loan. Each
Form 941 was signed by hand w ith the nam e tkYashica Bain''as the com pany ow ner,and also
listed tlYashica Bain''asthe com pany's designee and asa tûpaid Preparer,''although BA IN is not
a paid tax preparer.s
The purported Form s 941 subm itted with M BS'S PPP loan application package
follow the sam e styleand pat-
tern,including the indicia offraud,asthe m any otherForm s941that
CHS 2 acknow ledged thathe helped create and subm itin the course ofthe schem e,asdescribed
4 The PPP A pplication Form listed BA IN as the l00% owner of M BS,and also listed
BAIN 'Saddress as located in M iam i,Florida.
5 cH S 2 adm itted during interview s w ith 1aw enforcem entthatCHS 2 signed m any ofthe
Form s 941 included in the PPP applications. W hen CHS 2 was show n the four Form s 94l for
M BS,CHS 2 adm itted thathe signed aIlofthem .
Page 8 of 17
above.6 M oreover, IRS recordsshow thatM BS did not,in fact,file any Form s94l forany quarter
of20l9 orthe firstquarter of 2020,and Florida D epartm entof Revenue records show thatM BS
did notreportany w agesorem ployees forthatsam e period.
The purported com pany bank statem ent for M BS subm itted w ith its PPP loan
application package,w hich w as subm itted in electronic form atas a PDF,has indicia offorgcry.
A ccording to the PDF t5le -ûproperties,'' the February 2020 statem ent w as created using
CCPD FFILLER,''a program used to editelectronic PDF files,and wastim odified using i'I-ext.'' The
m etadata showsthatthefilewascreated on M ay I4,2020,and m odified on M ay 23,2020.Further,
the statem entis a recycled version ofthe same falsifsed Bank 6 statem entused in otherfraudulent
applications subm itted aspartofthisschem e.
The PPP A pplication Form required the borrowerto electronically initialand/or
sign (via Docusign,as explained below) a number of kkcertifications,''including:(1) that the
applicantbusiness w as in operation on February l5,2020,and had em ployees to w hom itpaid
salaries/payrolltaxesorpaid independentcontractors,as reported on Formts) l099;(2)thatthe
funds w ould be used to retain w orkers,m aintain payroll,or m ake modgage/interest/lease/utility
A snoted above,BA IN waslisted asboth ownerand paid preparer. DozensofotherForm s
94 1subm itted in thisschem e evidence the sam e error. CHS 2 has adm itted thatthese docum ents
share that feature because he misunderstood the form,and he (or someone following his
instructions)prepared the Form s941atissue.Thecontentoftheformsalso indicatefalsification.
M BS subm itted fouridentical941s,down to the penny in reported tsgures. They also evidence a
pattern ofpayrollspendingthatislikely false:eachofthequartersshowssignificant(butidentical
quarteroverquarter)increasesfrom the firstto second to third month ofthe quarter. Foreach
identicalform ,the sam e Gguresare reported forthe tax liability incurred in the Grstmonth ofeach
quarter,the same figure forthe second month ofeach quarter(increased substantially from the
firstmonth),and the same Ggure forthethird monthofthequarter(increased substantially from
thesecond month).Theresultisthatthecompany reportsaperfectly repeating cycleofascending
payrollcosts w ithin each quarter. CHS 2 has explained thatthis w as due to a form ula he used,
allocating differentpercentagesofthe quarterly payrolltax liability to each m onth ofeach quarter.
Page 9 of17
paym ents asspecified by the PPP rule and thatunauthorized use could resultin charges forfraud;
and (3)thattheinformationprovidedintheapplication,includinginsupportingdocuments,was
-itrue and accurate in aII m aterial respects,''and that m aking false statem ents could result in
crim inalcharges. Each certification w as electronically initialed IIYB ,''the loan application w as
electronicallysigned,andtheprintednameontheloanapplicationwasllYashicaBaink.l''
Thepromissorynote,labeledatthetopSipaycheckProtectionProgram Loanë,l''set
forth the amountofthe loan ($415,232)and itsterms(including thatthe proceedscould only be
used for business purposes). The term s also specified thatthe borrower may apply for loan
forgivenessonly in an am ountequalto the sum ofcertain specified costs:payrollcosts,intereston
m ortgage obligations,rentobligations,and utility paym ents.The prom issory notefurtherspecified
thatnotm ore than 25% of the am ountofforgiveness could be attributable to non-payrollcosts.
A dditionally,the prom issory note contained a iiRepresentations and W arranties''section forthe
borrower to acknow ledge,am ong other things,that 'Cthe inform ation provided in allsupporting
docum ents and form s to obtain this Ioan'' were true and accurate. The prom issory note was
electronicallysignedandtheprintednameonthepromissorynotewas%lYashicaBainl.l''
26. Bank Processor l's Internet protocol(tkIP'') address records for the M BS loan
application show thata computerwith an IP address(ending in 170)associated with CHS 2's
residence in Broward County,Florida,logged into the M BS Ioan account on or aboutM ay 23,
2020,M ay 26,2020,M ay 28,2020,June 2,2020,and on June 8,2020. The session recordsalso
revealthatacom puterwith IP address(ending in 99),an IPaddressused to accessBAIN 'Semail
account(ûsbrowpalacegs4@ gmail.com''),logged intotheM BS loanaccounttoview and signthe
PPP loan application on or about M ay 23,2020. Subsequently,on or about M ay 23,2020,a
com puterwith IP address(ending in 205),associatedwitha businessin M iramar,Florida,which
Page 10 of 17
w as Iocated nextdoorto M BS,Iogged into the M BS loan accountto view the PPP loan application.
Iinterview ed the ow nerofthisbusiness,and theow nerstated thathe/she knowsBA IN ,thatBA IN
visits the business,and that BA IN could have obtained the password to the business' internet
w irelessnetwork som etim e in the Iasttw o years.
Recordsreceivedfrom Docusignindicatedthat,onoraboutM ay23,2020,atl1:57
a.m.(UTC),Bank Processor 1 sentthe PPP Application Form to the Docusign useriiYashica
Bain''attheemailaddressSibrowpalacegs4@ gmail.com.''Recordsobtainedfrom GoogleandT-
M obile indicated thatthe phone num ber associated w ith this em ailaccount was BA IN 'S phone
number.?BAIN alsoprovidedtheemailaddressikbrowpalacegs4@ gmail.com''toaco-conspirator
who has separately been charged as partof the scheme,Keyaira Bostic (ûiBostic''),8 via text
m essage w hen BA IN wasapplying forthe PPP Ioan on behalfofhercom pany M BS.
Based upon these records from Docusign,Google,and T-M obile,BAIN view ed
the PPP Application Form on oraboutM ay 23,2020,at11:58 a.m.(UTC),and BAIN signedthe
PPP Application Form on oraboutM ay 23,2020,atl1:59a.m.(UTC)viaamobiledevice using
an IP addressending in 99.9
In addition, according to T-M obile records, the subscriber address for BA IN 'S phone
num ber is a residentialand m ailing address Iocated in M iam i, Florida,which is also Iisted on
BA IN 'SFlorida Driver's License.
O n Decem ber 8,2020,Bostic w as indicted in the Southern D istrictof Florida w ith w ire
fraud,bank fraud,and conspiracy to com m itw ire fraud and bank fraud forherrole inthisscheme.
See CaseN o.20-cr-60139-W PD .
Asmentioned in paragraph 2I,thisIP address(ending in 99)isthesame IP addressused
by a com puteron oraboutM ay 23,2020,to connectto BA IN 'S em ailaccount. In addition,the
Docusign recordsreflectthattheelectronic signature adopted forthe Ioan was-ûdrawn on devicey''
w hich indicates thatthe adopted signature was manually drawn by the signer. The otheroption
available would have been to select one of the predefined styles from the Docusign program ,
Page 11 of 17
29. Based on the representations made the loan application paperw ork and
supporting docum ents,the PPP loan application forM BS wasapproved,and on oraboutJune 23,
2020,Bank 3 wired approximately $4l5,232.00 in loan proceedsinto the M BS bank accountat
Bank 4.
Emails.TextM essauesandBankRecordsConfirm BAIN 'SKnowinz Participation in theFraud
A s partof the investigation,Iaw enforcem ent obtained com m unications betw een
Bostic and BA IN ,and betw een Bostic and CHS 2,including textm essages and em ails. l have
review ed a num berofthese com m unications,which discussed,am ong otherthings,the PPP loan
for M BS. These com m unications occurred between on orabout M ay 22,2020,and on orabout
June 26,2020. Bostic com m unicated w ith BA IN at BA IN 'S phone num ber,954-668-6263,the
sam e phone num berassociated w ith M BS.
Ihave also reviewed Bank 4 records forM BS and Bank 5 records fora com pany
controlled by CHS 2,w hich confirmed BA IN 'S receipt ofthe M BS PPP loan proceeds and the
subsequentkickback paym entto CHS 2. Bank recordsshow thatM BS had an accountatBank 4
ending in *7820 ('ûBank 4 *7820'5).A signature card forthe Bank 4 *7820 accountshowsthat
BA IN opened theaccounton oraboutNovem ber l4,20 l7,listed herposition asiisigner,''and was
one oftwo authorized signers forthe account.lo O n or aboutJune 23, 2020,the Bank 4 *7820
accountreceived via bank wireapproximately $415,232 in loan proceedsfrom Bank 3asaresult
ofM BS'S fraudulentPPP loan application.
Text m essages and em ails between BA IN and Bostic show how they exchanged
w hich would then populate the signature Iine w ith the kipre-selected style.'' The Docusign
signature on the loan application appears to m atch the style ofBA IN 'S DAV ID signature.
The otherauthorized signerwas Angela Sherea Perrim an-W right. The investigation has
revealed thatshe is BA IN 'Sm other.
Page 12 of 17
information in orderforBA IN to apply fora PPP Ioan. On oraboutM ay 21,2020,Bostic senta
text m essage to BA IN , w hich stated, kûsend m e your em ail I w illsend the intake sheet.''
response,BAIN sentBostictheemailaddressûdbrowpalacegs4@ gmail.com.'' Subsequently,on
oraboutMay 21,2020,Bosticemailed BAIN atçkbrowpalacegs4@ gmail.com''an intakesheet.
As explained above,the intake form s containcd fieldsforthe inform ation needed to fabricate the
docum ents and fillout other aspects of the PPP application:identifying inform ation about the
ownerand com pany,asw ellasbank accountinform ation forreceiving the Ioan. A section atthe
end m arked tLBELO W IS O FFICE USE ON LY '' included blank fields for the liN um ber of
Em ployees,''içM onthly PayrollExpense,''and CISBA Loan Pre-A pprovalA m ount.''
On or about M ay 21, 2020, BAIN , using em ail address
-ibrowpalacegs4@gmail.com,''sent Bostic an -lapplication''and a February bank statement.
Subsequently,on oraboutM ay 23,2020,Bostic forwarded these docum entsto CHS 2.
A review of the textm essages between BA IN and Bostic show that BAIN was
considering using BA IN 'S m other's intbrm ation to apply for the PPP loan because BAIN was
concerned aboutBAIN 'S creditscore. On oraboutM ay 22,2020,BA IN senta textm essage to
Bostic thatstated,ûilfthey go by creditIm ay have to change the nam e to m y m om s because m y
Equifax won'tm ove.'' Bostic replied,ikcreditdoesn'tm atterM y hom e creditwas in the 300s.''
BA IN then responded,ûûNly shitis 730 butm y Equifax is fucked.600.5' Bostic replied to BA IN ,
tû-l-hey don'tcheck credit,''to w hich BA IN responded,iûok cool.''
A review of the text m essages betw een BA IN and Bostic also show that they
discussed the arrestofan individualaccused ofcom m itting fraud in connection w ith a PPP loan.
O n oraboutM ay 24,2020,the day after BA IN applied forthe M BS PPP Ioan,Bostic sentBA IN
a link to a newsarticle thatdiscussed thearrestofan Atlanta reality TV staraccused ofcomm itting
Page 13 of17
fraud inconnectionwith aPPP loan(alittleover$2million)thatheobtainedinthenameofhis
com pany. BA IN replied,iio k.'' Bostic then senta text m essage to BA IN that stated,'k-l-his is
buddy w hathe did and the am ountwasa huge red tlag.'-
BA IN and Bostic also discussed,via textm essages,the 25% kickback paym entto
CH S 2. On or about June 24,2020, after Bostic had receivcd the PPP Ioan proceeds,Bostic
forw arded to BA IN atextm essage thatCH S 2 had sentBostic. The textm essage read as follow s:
Siloay Iheard back from blue vine they said they approved herand thatthe funds are hers to use.
Tellhermake surethe funds are available before she triesto use itTellherto send usour25% loI
Butshe isok to use Ihavethe forgivenesspaperw ork and lAm getting itready fordistribution for
everyone to sign do Ican work on itforthem .'' Subsequently,on oraboutJune 25,2020,Bostic
sent BA IN the wire instructions for the kickback paym ent to CHS 2. The w ire instructions
included CHS 2's bank nam e, com pany nam e, hom e address, account num ber, and routing
num ber. BA IN w as supposed to follow these instructionsin orderto w ire approxim ately 25% of
M BS'S PPP Ioan to an account CHS 2 controlled at Bank 5. Bostic then senta follow-up text
m essageto BA IN thatstated,itl-le said to putin the notesrem odeling forthe salon.''
BA IN 'S bank records confirm ed thatBA IN followed these instructionsand w ired
partofthe kickback paym entto CH S 2.A review ofBA IN 'Sbank recordsshowed thaton orabout
June25,2020,BA IN w ired approximately $28,800 to CHS 2. BAIN wired thismoneyfrom her
Bank 4 *7820 accountto an accountcontrolled by CH S 2 atBank 5. The m em o Iine forthe w ire
indicated itwasforkif'orM icroblading Brow Studio/rem odeling salon.'' How ever,CH S 2 did not
perform oragree to perform any businessupgrading services forBAIN .
38. Subsequently,BA IN sentaconfirm ationtextto Bosticthatstated,Ell-ley boo,lsent
28,800.'' Bostic replied,b:O k,''and then w rote,tûl'le said u can do the restin cash,''to which BA IN
Page 14 of 17
replied,Sûo k that'sthe plans-''
A review of BA IN 'S bank records show thatafter BA IN received the PPP loan
proceeds,BAIN m ade substantialpaym entsto herselfand to otherindividualsthatpurported to be
forpayrollexpenses.Forexam ple,on oraboutJune 30,2020,BAIN wired herself$48,600. The
m cm o Iine forthis w ire indicated itw as fortiback pay wages.'' On oraboutJuly 8,2020,BA IN
wired $50,000 to herboyfriend. The memo line forthiswire indicated itwasto iitake care of
payroll.'' On oraboutJuly 9,2020,BAIN 'Sboyfriend received an additionalpaymentof$2,500
from M BS via Zelle forûûwagesv'' On oraboutOctober5,2020,Iinterviewed BAIN regarding her
PPP Ioan for M BS. This interview w asconsensual. Am ong otherthings,BA IN stated thatthis
individualwasherboyfriend. BA IN initially said thatM BS did nothave m ore than 16 em ployees
atany onetime(incontrasttothe2lemployeesclaimed on thePPP loan application,asdescribed
above).Afterfurtherquestioning,BAIN couldnotprovidenamesofemployeesandfurthersaid
the em ployees cam e and wentfrequently. She also claim ed thatM BS had roughly eightornine
em ployees in February 2020,and thatithad zero orvery few em ployees in M arch 2020,butshe
could notrecallthe exactnum ber.
40. On oraboutJuly l0,2020,BAIN wroteherselfacheck intheam ountof$8,500for
''w ages.'' From on oraboutJune 26,2020,through on or aboutA ugust 14,2020,BA IN w rote
'ûwages''and kipayroll''checks totaling approximately $77,020 and made payable to different
individuals,includingherself.Forexample,onoraboutJuly 3,2020,BAIN wrotea$3,000 check
to an individualand the mem o Iine indicated it was for 'çpayroll/wages.'' l interviewed this
individual,w ho stated thathe/she did notknow BA IN or M BS;thathe/she has neverw orked for
BA IN orM BS;and thathe/she received thischeck from afriend who asked him /herto please cash
Page 15 of17
the check.
On oraboutJuly 31,2020,BAIN wrote a$5,250check to anotherindividualand
the m em o line indicated itwas for%swages/payroll.'' Iinterview ed this individual,who stated that
he/she did notknow BA IN or M BS;thathe/she has neverw orked for BA IN orM BS;and that
he/she received this check from someone else in orderto help w ith his/her schoolpaym ent. A
review of BA IN 'S bank records does not show that BA IN personally received or paid these
am ounts of wages prior to the date w hen she obtained the PPP loan. Further,as previously
described,lRS recordsshow thatM BS did not,in fact,file any Form s941 forany quarterof20l9
orthe firstquarterof 2020,and Florida Departm entof Revenue records show thatM BS did not
reportany w ages oremployeesforthatsam e period.
42. BA IN 'S bank recordsalso show thatBA IN m ade substantialpaym entsto M BS and
failed to use this m oney on business-related orpayroll-related expenses for M BS. Forexam ple,
on oraboutJuly 13,2020,shetransferred approximately $65,000 from Bank 4 *7820 accountto
anotherbankaccountinthenameofM BS.Subsequently,approximately $53,503waswithdrawn
from thisotherM BS accountand a cashier's check for$8,000 was made payable to M idtown
Lounge 55, a bar and lounge in M iam i, Florida. Law enforcem ent agents interview ed the
individualfamiliarwith the $8,000 cashier's check,and this individualstated thatBAIN paid
her/him thism oney in orderto purchase M idtown Lounge 55.
(THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANKI
Page 16 of17
CO NCLUSION
Based on the fol'
going.lrespectfully sublnitthatthere isprobable causeto believe
thatYA SHICA SHEREA BA IN coluluitted theTargetO ffensess fi'
om on ol-aboutM ay 22,2020,
to atIeaston oraboutAugust!4,2020,intheSouthern DistrictofFlorida, and elsewhere.
FURTH ER YO UR AFFIANT SAYETH NAUG IIT .
#. m*-'
. .- --
*->
Beatriz Feito
SpecialAgent
IRS-CI
Attested to by the applicantin accordallce
withtherequireluentsjg Fed.R.Crim .P.4.l
by telephonc,on this 1: ay ofM arch,202l,
atFortLauderdale,Florida.
HONORABLE PATRi/K M.HUNT
UN ITED STATES M AGISTRATE JUDGE
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