Indictment — United States v. Peter Igwacho, District of Oregon (Document 1)

Summary

A sealed grand jury Indictment in United States v. Peter Igwacho, Case 3:22-cr-00283-AN, in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division, filed August 9, 2022. Count 1 charges wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 over a PPP loan application transmitted on March 13, 2021 for Yukon Employment Solutions, Inc., which the indictment describes as purporting to be a residential mental health and substance abuse facility solely owned by Igwacho. It alleges that the application falsely denied ownership of another business and claimed ten employees and an average monthly payroll of $60,000.00, supported by IRS Forms 941 never filed with the IRS and a Schedule C claiming $802,400.00 in gross income. It states that the loan of $150,000 was approved and the SBA paid lender fees of $7,500, and includes a forfeiture allegation.

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“Indictment — United States v. Peter Igwacho, District of Oregon (Document 1).” Original at archive.org. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/indictment-no-3-22-cr-00283-dkt-1-d-or-4e83984dae/, SHA-256 e5f7670de66d5757197d4f4b37c96cef91ee4c8cdb80103a47bbd65fba2071bf.

Full text

Case 3:22-cr-00283-AN Document 1 Filed 08/09/22 Page 1 of 6

FILED!)9 ALG '2214:39USDC·ORP
UNDER SEAL

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF OREGON

PORTLAND DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 3:22-cr-00283-MO

v. INDICTMENT

PETER IGWACHO, 18 u.s.c. § 1343
Forfeiture Allegation
Defendant.
UNDER SEAL

THE GRAND JURY CHARGES:

INTRODUCTORY ALLEGATIONS

At all times relevant to this Indictment:

1. PETER IGWACHO ("IGWACHO'') is a resident of Alaska.

2. IGWACHO is the sole owner of Yukon Employment Solutions, Inc., ("Yukon").

3. Yukon was assigned an EIN number on April 3, 2020.

4. Yukon purports to be a residential mental health and substance abuse facility.

COVID Disaster-Relief Programs

5. On March 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief,

and Economic Security ("CARES") Act into law. The CARES Act created the Paycheck

Protection Program ("PPP"), which authorized the SBA to guarantee loans of up to $10,000,000
Indictment Page 1
Revised April 2018
Case 3:22-cr-00283-AN Document 1 Filed 08/09/22 Page 2 of 6

to qualifying employers without collateral or personal guarantees from the borrowers. The Act

required lenders making loans under the PPP to defer all repayment obligations for not less than

six months on such loans and required borrowers to certify, among other things, that the

borrowed "funds [would] be used to retain workers and maintain payroll or make mortgage

payments, lease payments, and utility payments." In order to obtain PPP funding, an applicant

was required to provide personal identifying information as well as information about the subject

business ' s operations, such as the date of opening, number of employees, and reported revenues.

6. On December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 , which

included the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, onprofit, and Venues Act (the

"Relief Act") was signed into law, which provided an additional $284.5 billion for the PPP loan

program. Under the Relief Act, certain businesses that had already obtained a PPP loan under the

original PPP were eligible for an additional "second draw" PPP loan, provided they met certain

requirements. The Relief Act also re-opened the application period for "first draw" PPP loans to

businesses that had not been approved for a "first draw" loan prior to August 8, 2020, or who

may have been eligible to receive more funds during the "first draw" period than they actually

received. The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive

unsecured SBA-guaranteed loans. PPP loan proceeds must be used by businesses on payroll

costs, mortgage interest, rent, and/or utilities, among other specified expenses.

7. IGWACHO applied for and successfully obtained PPP loan # #14646386-04.

8. IGWACHO's PPP loan application was submitted through servers in the District

of Oregon, after which initial screening transferred information to servers in the Commonwealth

of Virginia.

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Case 3:22-cr-00283-AN Document 1 Filed 08/09/22 Page 3 of 6

COUNT 1
(Wire Fraud)
(18 u.s.c. § 1343)

9. The all egations in paragraphs 1 through 8 of this Indictment are incorporated as

though realleged herein.

THESCHEME

10. On or about April 2020 and continuing through October 2021 , IGWACHO

devised and intended to devise a material scheme to defraud the SBA and various financial

institutions and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent

pretenses, representations, and promises.

11 . Specifically, IGWACHO applied for and obtained a PPP loan by making

materially false representations, with the intent to defraud, that is, the intent to deceive and cheat.

MANNER AND MEANS

It was part of this scheme that:

12. Beginning on or about March 13, 2021 , IGWACHO transmitted a PPP loan

application on behalf of Yukon, wherein he made several materially false statements and

representations in furtherance of securing proceeds.

Date Program/ Business Amount
Application, Loan,
or Grant Number
March 13, 202 1 Loan Application RE Yukon Employment $150,000.00 + SBA
PPP Loan # Solutions, Inc. Paid Lender Fees
14646386-04 $7,500

13. Upon the approval of the PPP loan application for $150,000, the SBA paid lender

fees of $7,500 to the lending institution that originated the loan.

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14. The PPP loan application contained the following material misrepresentations.

a. Applicant was asked whether the "Applicant or any owner of the

Applicant" was "an owner of any other business, or have common management

(including a management agreement) with any other business[.]" The applicant

responded "No" even though the applicant owned another business (" It Is Well Mental

Health Solutions").

b. IGW ACHO claimed that Yukon had ten employees, an average monthly

payroll of $60,000.00, and that the company generated $170,416.00 in gross receipts

during the second quarter of Tax Year 2020. Those representations were false ; the

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Alaska Department of Revenue, and Alaska Department

of Labor did not have any records of Yukon filing any returns or information reflecting

that the company had the number of employees or average monthly payroll represented

on IGWACHO's PPP loan application, or that the company generated the claimed gross

receipts during the second quarter of Tax Year 2020. Yukon bank account transaction

records also demonstrated that the company did not have or generate the average monthly

payroll or gross receipts amounts that IGW ACHO claimed in his PPP loan application.

c. Among the supporting documentation that IGWACHO provided with his

PPP loan application was IRS Forms 941 (Employer' s Quarterly Federal Tax Return) for

Yukon, for all four quarters of Tax Year 2020, which reported that Yukon had employees

to whom it paid wages and withheld federal income tax. Those representations were

false: none of the IRS Forms 941 that IGWACHO provided with his PPP loan

application had ever been filed with the IRS.

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Case 3:22-cr-00283-AN Document 1 Filed 08/09/22 Page 5 of 6

d. Among the supp01iing documentation that IGW ACHO provided with

PPP loan application was IRS Form 1040 Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business

[Sole Proprietorship]) for Tax Year 2020, in which he claimed that Yukon' s gross income

and wage expenses during that period to be $802,400.00 and $702,932.00, respectively.

Those representations were false: the IRS, Alaska Department of Revenue, and Alaska

Department of Labor did not have any records of Yukon filing any returns or information

reflecting that the company generated the represented the gross income or wage expenses

during Tax Year 2020. Yukon's bank account transaction records also demonstrated that

the company did not generate the gross income or incur the wage expenses that

IGWACHO claimed in his PPP loan application.

WIRE FRAUD

15. On or about the dates set forth below in Count 1, in the District of Oregon and

elsewhere, IGWACHO, for the purposes of executing and attempting to execute the above-

described material scheme to defraud, or with the intent to deceive and cheat, in order to obtain

money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and

promises, knowingly caused the following communications via interstate wire:

Count No. Date Interstate Transmission
1 March 13 , 202 1 Loan Application RE PPP Loan# 14646386-04

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

FORFEITURE ALLEGATION

16. Upon conviction of the wire fraud offense alleged in Count 1 of this Indictment,

defendant shall forfeit to the United States pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(l)(C) and 28 U.S .C.

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Case 3:22-cr-00283-AN Document 1 Filed 08/09/22 Page 6 of 6

§ 2461(c) any and all property, real or personal, involved in or derived from said offense and all

property traceable to such property, including but not limited to a money judgment for a smn of

money equal to the amount of property involved in or derived from that offense.

17. If the above-described forfeitable property, as a result of any act or omission of

defendant:

(a) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;

(b) has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third paiiy;

(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 21 U.S .C. § 853(p), as incorporated by 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c).

Dated: August q+~ 2022 A TRUE BILL.

OFFICIATlNGF OREPERSO

Presented by:

ATALIE K. WIGHT
United States Attorney

SIDDHARTH DADHICH, TSB #24096310
Assistant United States Attorney

Indictment Page 6

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