DOJ Office of Public Affairs, Hockridge sentencing press release Nov. 21, 2025

Archived source: DOJ Office of Public Affairs, Hockridge sentencing press release Nov. 21, 2025. Captured from www.justice.gov.

Full text

All News

Blogs

Photo Galleries

Podcasts

Press Releases

Speeches

Videos

Archived Press Releases

Archived News

Press Release

Co-Founder of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Service Provider Sentenced for $63M COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme

Friday, November 21, 2025

X

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

A co-founder of a lender service provider was sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $63 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The defendant was also ordered to pay over $63 million in restitution.

According to evidence presented at trial, Stephanie Hockridge, also known as Stephanie Reis, 42, of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and previously of Arizona, co-founded Blueacorn in April 2020, purportedly to assist small businesses and individuals in obtaining PPP loans. To get larger loans for certain PPP applicants, Hockridge and her co-conspirators fabricated documents, including payroll records, tax documentation and bank statements. Hockridge and her co-conspirators charged borrowers kickbacks based on a percentage of the funds received.

As part of the scheme, Hockridge and others offered a personalized service to their clients called “VIPPP” to help potential borrowers complete PPP loan applications. Hockridge recruited co-conspirators to work as VIPPP referral agents and coach borrowers on how to submit false PPP loan applications. To get more kickbacks from borrowers and a higher percentage of lender fees from the SBA, Hockridge and her co-conspirators submitted PPP loan applications that they knew contained materially false information. In total, Hockridge and her coconspirators processed over $63 million in fraudulent PPP loans.

On June 20, a jury found Hockridge guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas; Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don Daley of the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Western Region; and Special Agent in Charge Christopher J. Altemus Jr. of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Dallas Field Office made the announcement.

IRS-CI, Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery, Federal Reserve Board-CFPB Office of Inspector General, and SBA OIG investigated the case.

Acting Assistant Chief Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section; Trial Attorneys Elizabeth Carr and Ryan McLaren of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Weybrecht for the Northern District of Texas prosecuted the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the PPP. Since the enactment of the CARES Act, the Fraud Section has prosecuted over 200 defendants in more than 130 criminal cases and has seized over $78 million in cash proceeds derived from fraudulently obtained PPP funds, as well as numerous real estate properties and luxury items purchased with such proceeds.

The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Updated November 21, 2025

Topic

COVID-Related Fraud

Components

Criminal Division

Criminal - Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section

USAO - Texas, Northern

Press Release Number: 25-1108

Press Release

Texas Couple Who Operated an Illegal Pyramid Scheme Are Convicted of Conspiracy, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering

A federal jury in Sherman, Texas convicted a married couple on Thursday for operating a multi-million-dollar pyramid scheme during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

January 9, 2026

Press Release

Co-Founder of Paycheck Protection Program Lender Service Provider Sentenced for $65M COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme

A co-founder of a lender service provider was sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $65 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans...

December 18, 2025

Press Release

Two Men Sentenced for $17M COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud

Two Cordele, Georgia, men were sentenced today for their participation in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL) out of millions of dollars in benefits meant to...

December 11, 2025

File and source

File

co-founder-paycheck-protection-program-lender-service-provider-sentenc_91a3499f5764c2a9.html

Size

92,052 bytes

SHA-256

114f14626bcdc2b035cbbeb1d02c95fe81adc96dfdebd72178b1c90b3f867b43

Our copy

co-founder-paycheck-protection-program-lender-service-provider-sentenc_91a3499f5764c2a9.html

Original

www.justice.gov