Indictment — United States v. Richard Hebert, Jr., Middle District of Louisiana (Document 1)

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An indictment for bank fraud, false statements to banks and notice of forfeiture against Richard Hebert, Jr., Case No. 3:23-cr-00063-BAJ-RLB, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, filed July 19, 2023 as Document 1. Counts One through Three charge bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1344(2) and Counts Four through Eight charge false statements under 18 U.S.C. § 1014. The indictment alleges that from on or before April 7, 2020 through on or about July 10, 2020 Hebert submitted PPP applications in the names of entities including Brookland Realty, LLC, Interstate Construction Group, Inc. and R&M Builders and Real Estate, LLC to banks including Gulf Coast Bank and Trust, Investar Bank and b1 Bank, with false employee and payroll figures. It states that more than $2 million in PPP loan proceeds was deposited into accounts Hebert controlled and used for personal expenses.

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“Indictment — United States v. Richard Hebert, Jr., Middle District of Louisiana (Document 1).” Original at archive.org. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/indictment-no-3-23-cr-00063-dkt-1-m-d-la-3299f63df9/, SHA-256 af6a70db153b70c2e16cfc78737e51150f54662f7a26f5beb71817f38cea41d1.

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Case 3:23-cr-00063-BAJ-RLB Document1 07/19/23 Page1of7

iU.S. DISTRICT COURT

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COUR

FILED | 9 2023
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA JUL 13

CLERK

INDICTMENT FOR
BANK FRAUD, FALSE STATEMENTS TO BANKS,
AND NOTICE OF FORFEITURE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CRIMINAL NO. 23 -@h-63 ~BAS— LB

; 18 U.S.C. § 1344(2)
versus : 18 U.S.C. § 1014
: 18 U.S.C. § 2
18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(2)(A) & 982(b)
Do 21 ULS.C. § 853(p)
RICHARD HEBERT, JR. ot 28 U.S.C. 2461(c)

THE GRAND JURY CHARGES:

At times relevant to this Indictment:

GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

1. RICHARD HEBERT, JR., defendant herein, was a resident of Harvey,
Louisiana. In 2019 and 2020, HEBERT was affiliated with and controlled various entities,
including Albritton Home Construction Group, Inc.; Brookland Realty, LLC; Hebert Real Estate
Holdings, LLC; Interstate Construction and Demolition Group, Inc.; Interstate Construction
Group, Inc.; K Bear Investments, LLC; and R&M Builders and Real Estate, LLC.

2. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a COVID-19 pandemic relief
program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that provided forgivable
loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses. The PPP permitted
participating third-party lenders to approve and disburse SBA-backed PPP loans to cover payroll,

fixed debts, utilities, rent/mortgage, accounts payable, and other bills incurred by qualifying
Case 3:23-cr-00063-BAJ-RLB Document1 07/19/23 Page 2 of 7

businesses during, and resulting from, the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP loans were fully
guaranteed by the SBA.

Sn The proceeds of a PPP loan could be used only for certain specified items, such as
payroll costs, costs related to the continuation of group health care benefits, or mortgage interest
payments. The proceeds of a PPP loan were not permitted to be used by the businesses or their
representatives to purchase consumer goods, automobiles, personal residences, clothing, or
jewelry; to pay personal federal income taxes; or to fund ordinary day-to-day living expenses
unrelated to the specified authorized expenses.

4, To obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying business had to submit a PPP loan application
that was signed by an authorized representative of the business. The PPP loan application
required the business (through its authorized representative) to acknowledge the program rules
and make certain affirmative certifications, including (a) that the business was in operation on
February 15, 2020; (b) that the business had either employees, for whom it paid salaries and
payroll taxes, or paid independent contractors; (c) that the loan request was necessary to support
ongoing operations; and (d) that the loan proceeds would be used for approved business-related
purposes. A business applying for a PPP loan was required to provide documentation showing
its payroll expenses, such as filed federal income tax documents.

= If approved, the applying business received the PPP loan proceeds via an
electronic funds transfer from the third-party lender to a financial account under the control of
the business. The amount of the loan was based on the business’s average monthly payroll.

6. Gulf Coast Bank and Trust, Gulf Coast Bank, First Bank and Trust, Investar
Bank, and b1Bank were third-party participating lenders in the PPP and were federally insured

financial institutions as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 20.
Case 3:23-cr-00063-BAJ-RLB

Document 1

07/19/23

Page 3 of 7

ae The factual allegations contained in Paragraphs 1-6 are incorporated in each and

every Count of this Indictment.

COUNTS ONE THROUGH THREE

(Bank Fraud)

The Bank Fraud Scheme

8. During the period from on or before April 7, 2020, through on or about July 10,

2020, HEBERT engaged in a scheme to obtain PPP loans in the names of various entities from

banks by means of fraud, knowing that the entities were not entitled to such loans and intending

to use the loan proceeds for his own personal enrichment.

9. The scheme was carried out in the following manner:

the below described PPP loan applications.

On the following dates, HEBERT submitted, or caused to be submitted,

DATE BORROWER BANK AMOUNT
04/07/20 | Brookland Realty, LLC Gulf Coast Bank and Trust | $125,000.00
04/12/20 | Brookland Realty Gulf Coast Bank and Trust $44,600.00
04/28/20 | Interstate Construction and Gulf Coast Bank and Trust | $402,000.00
Demolition Group, Inc.

05/01/20 | K Bear Investments, LLC Gulf Coast Bank $414,520.62

05/04/20 | Interstate Construction and First Bank and Trust $20,833.00
Demolition Group

05/13/20 | Hebert Real Estate Holdings, | Gulf Coast Bank and Trust | $414,521.00
LLC

05/15/20 | Hebert Real Estate Holdings, | Gulf Coast Bank $554,770.00
LLC

06/08/20 | Albritton Home Construction | Investar Bank $365,600.00
Group, Inc.

06/15/20 | Interstate Construction b1 Bank $639,290.00
Group, Inc.

06/20/20 | R&M Builders and Real b1 Bank $512,020.00
Estate, LLC

06/28/20 | Interstate Construction bil Bank $499,224.00
Group, Inc.

07/10/20 | R&M Builders and Real b1 Bank $531,473.00
Estate, LLC
Case 3:23-cr-00063-BAJ-RLB Document1 07/19/23 Page 4of7

b. In each of the above applications, HEBERT falsely certified that the
requested loan proceeds would be used only for approved business-related purposes.
In truth, at the time the above applications were submitted, HEBERT intended to use
the loan proceeds for his own enrichment and not for authorized expenses of the
businesses.

c. In each of the above applications, HEBERT made false statements
regarding the number of persons employed by the borrower and the borrower’s
average monthly payroll. In support of the applications, HEBERT submitted false
documentation, including, for some applications, false tax forms that had not been
filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

d. At times, HEBERT communicated with bank officials for the purpose
of securing approval of the requested PPP loans.

e. Based on the above applications, more than $2 million in PPP loan
proceeds was deposited into bank accounts controlled by HEBERT. Rather than
using the proceeds solely for approved business-related expenses, HEBERT used
proceeds for personal expenses.

Executions and Attempted Executions of the Scheme

10. | Onor about the dates specified as to each Count below, defendant RICHARD
HEBERT, JR., in the Middle District of Louisiana and elsewhere, knowingly executed and
attempted to execute the above-described scheme to obtain money owned by, and under the
custody and control of, financial institutions, by means of materially false and fraudulent

pretenses, representations and promises, in that he caused the submission of the below-described
Case 3:23-cr-00063-BAJ-RLB Document1 07/19/23 Page 5of7

PPP loan applications, which contained material false statements and promises, to the listed

Each of the above is a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1344(2) and 2.

COUNT FOUR

11. On or about June 8, 2020, in the Middle District of Louisiana, defendant
RICHARD HEBERT, JR., knowingly made a false statement, that is, that Albritton Home
Construction Group, Inc., had 26 employees and an average monthly payroll of $146,240, on an
application for a PPP loan for the purpose of influencing the action of Investar Bank on such
loan application.