Criminal Information — United States v. Timothy Williams (Northern District of Georgia)

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Criminal information filed September 9, 2020, in United States v. Timothy Williams, Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM, Document 1, in the Northern District of Georgia. It charges conspiracy in Count One and false statements in Count Two, and includes a forfeiture allegation seeking a money judgment. The information alleges that on or about May 4, 2020, a PPP loan application package requesting $300,000 for Bamigi Brand was submitted to Bank 1, via Company 1, and that Bank 1 wired approximately $300,000 on or about May 5, 2020. It alleges that Williams wrote and signed at least 8 checks from the Bamigi Brand checking account.

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Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM Document1 Filed 09/09/20 Page 1of8

FILED IN CHAMBERS
U.S.D.C ATLANTA

Date: SCP 09 2020

JAMES N. HATTEN, Clerk

By: s/Angela Smith

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT Deputy Clerk

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Criminal Information

No. 1:20-CR-00339

TIMOTHY WILLIAMS

THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY CHARGES THAT:

Count One
Conspiracy
18 U.S.C. §371
1. In or about May 2020, in the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere,

the defendant, TIMOTHY WILLIAMS, did knowingly and willfully combine,
conspire, confederate, agree, and have a tacit understanding with Co-
Conspirator 1 and Co-Conspirator 3, and others, known and unknown, to
commit an offense against the United States, that is, to devise and intend to
devise a scheme and artifice to defraud the United States and to obtain money
and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses,
representations, and promises, and by the omission of material facts, and, with
the intent to defraud, cause to be transmitted certain wire communications in
interstate and foreign commerce for the purposes of executing the scheme, in

violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM Document1 Filed 09/09/20 Page 2 of 8

Background
The Paycheck Protection Program

2. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Actis a
federal law enacted in or around March 2020 and designed to provide emergency
financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic
effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 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”). In or around April
2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.

3. In order 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, the 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 showing their payroll
expenses.

4. A PPP loan application must be processed by a participating financial
institution (the lender). If a PPP loan application is approved, the participating
financial institution funds the PPP loan using its own monies, which are 100%

guaranteed by Small Business Administration (“SBA”). Data from the

2
Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM Document1 Filed 09/09/20 Page 3 of 8

application, including information about the borrower, the total amount of the
loan, and the listed number of employees, are transmitted by the lender to the
SBA in the course of processing the loan.

5. 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 of time after receiving the proceeds and uses a certain amount of the PPP
loan proceeds on payroll expenses.

6. The PPP is overseen by the SBA, which is headquartered at 409 3rd Street
SW, Washington, D.C. 20416, and has authority over all loans. Individual PPP
loans, however, are issued by private approved lenders (most commonly, banks
and credit unions), which receive and process PPP applications and supporting
documentation, and then make loans using the lenders’ own funds.

Relevant Entities

7. Bank 1 is an SBA-approved lender headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

8. Bank 2 is a federally-insured financial institution headquartered in Vienna,
Virginia.

9. Company 1 pairs PPP applicants with lenders by collecting applications,
performing underwriting tasks, and submitting approved applications to SBA-
approved lenders such as Bank 1 for funding.

The Co-Conspirators

10. WILLIAMS was a citizen of the United States and resident of the Northern

District of Georgia.
Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM Document1 Filed 09/09/20 Page 4of8

11.WILLIAMS was an owner and authorized representative of Bamigi Brand,
located at 2575 Snapfinger Road, Suite 1, Decatur, GA 30034. Bamigi Brand’s
Employer Identification Number issued by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service was
84-2356471.

12. Bamigi Brand maintained a business checking account number ending
3560 at Bank 2. WILLIAMS was an authorized signatory on the account.

13. Co-Conspirator 1 (CC-1) aided WILLIAMS in submitting an application
for a PPP loan for Bamigi Brand.

14. Co-Conspirator 3 (CC-3) referred WILLIAMS to Co-Conspirator 1 to
enable WILLIAMS to get the PPP loan.

15. WILLIAMS referred others to CC-1 which enabled them to get PPP loans.
Object of the Conspiracy

16. The object of the conspiracy was for WILLIAMS and his co-conspirators to
fraudulently obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans for themselves, and to
conceal the conspiracy.

Manner and Means of the Conspiracy

17.On or about May 4, 2020, a PPP loan application package was submitted to
Bank 1, via Company 1, requesting a $300,000 PPP loan for Bamigi Brand.
Included with the loan application were (1) an SBA Form 2483 PPP Borrower
Application Form bearing WILLIAMG’s digital signature; (2) IRS Form 941s
(Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns) purportedly reflecting Bamigi
Brand’s payroll data for January to March 2019; and (3) a Promissory Note
bearing WILLIAMS’s digital signature.
Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM Document1 Filed 09/09/20 Page5of8

18. On the SBA Form 2483, WILLIAMS falsely certified that his business had
an average monthly payroll of $120,000 and 16 employees. Among other things,
WILLIAMS further falsely certified that all of the PPP loan funds would be “used
to retain workers and maintain payroll or make mortgage interest payments,
lease payments, and utility payments, as specified under the Paycheck Protection
Program Rule.” WILLIAMS also acknowledged that failure to use the PPP funds
in accordance with the requirements of the PPP program, and making false
statements in support of the loan application, could result in criminal penalties.

19. The IRS Form 941 that was included with the PPP loan application falsely
represented, among other things, that Bamigi Brand had 16 employees, paid
wages, tips, and other compensation in the amount of $358,819.00 in the first
quarter of 2019. In fact, Bamigi Brand made no quarterly tax filings in 2019.

20.On or about May 4, 2020, at CC-1’s direction, WILLIAMS digitally signed
the SBA Form 2483 and the Promissory Note and electronically transmitted them
to Company 1. Company 1 then transmitted the loan package to Bank 1 for
approval.

21.On or about May 4, 2020, Bank 1 approved the PPP loan.

22.On or about May 5, 2020, Bank 1 wired approximately $300,000 to Bamigi
Brand’s business checking account at Bank 2.

23. In or about May 2020, at CC-1’s direction, WILLIAMS wrote and signed at
least 8 checks from the Bamigi Brand checking account at Bank 2 and supplied

them to Co-Conspirator 1 or his designee and at least 5 cashier’s checks to CC-3.
Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM Document1 Filed 09/09/20 Page 6 of 8

The individuals who cashed the checks were not eligible to receive funds from
the PPP loan made to Bamigi Brand.

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.

Count Two
False Statements
18 U.S.C. §§ 1001(a)(1) and 2

24. In or about May 2020, in the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere,
the defendant, TIMOTHY WILLIAMS, did knowingly and willfully make
materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations ina
matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the Government of the
United States, namely, the Small Business Administration, those being: on or
about May 4, 2020, WILLIAMS signed and initialed an SBA Form 2483 Paycheck
Protection Program Borrower Application Form knowing the form contained
false information regarding his company’s eligibility for a Paycheck Program

loan.

All in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1001(a)(1) and Section

FORFEITURE ALLEGATION

25. Upon conviction of the offense alleged in Count One of this Criminal
Information, the defendant, TIMOTHY WILLIAMS, shall forfeit to the United
States, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C) and 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c), all property,
real and personal, constituting and derived from proceeds traceable to the

scheme to defraud, including but not limited to the following:
Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM Document1 Filed 09/09/20 Page 7 of 8

(a) MONEY JUDGMENT: A sum of money in United States currency equal
to the amount of proceeds the defendant obtained as a result of the

offense for which the defendantis convicted.

26. 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 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).

BYUNG J. PAK
United States Attorney

Diane CO. Schubman

DIANE C. SCHULMAN
Special Assistant United States Attorney
Georgia Bar No. 497764

DANIELS. KAHN

Acting Chief, Fraud Section
Criminal Division

U.S. Department of Justice
Case 1:20-cr-00339-LMM Document1 Filed 09/09/20 Page 8 of 8

NY Bar No. 4196143

MICHAEL P. MCCART

Trial Attorney
DC Bar No. 1020231

600 U.S. Courthouse

75 Ted Turner Drive SW
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-581-6000; Fax: 404-581-618


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