Indictment — United States v. Jennifer Corinne Scoggins and John David Scoggins, Northern District of Alabama
Summary
An Indictment in United States v. Jennifer Corinne Scoggins and John David Scoggins, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Northeastern Division, filed 03/28/23 as Document 1 in Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ. Count One charges conspiracy to commit wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1349, and Counts 2 through 5 charge wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2. The grand jury alleges that the defendants applied for or received approximately $1.7 million in fraudulent PPP loans for four purportedly operational businesses, applying for no fewer than six PPP loans through lenders headquartered in New York, Utah and Texas with falsified Forms 941, payroll reports and bank statements. The wire counts list transfers of $207,543, $366,163, $206,402 and $366,163 from Lender 1, Lender 2 and Lender 3 between February 18, 2021 and June 25, 2021. A notice of forfeiture follows.
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“Indictment — United States v. Jennifer Corinne Scoggins and John David Scoggins, Northern District of Alabama.”
Original at ecf.alnd.uscourts.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/indictment-usa-v-scoggins-et-al-dkt-1-e15b7e52d0/
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Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ Document 1 Filed 03/28/23 Page 1 of 8 FILED
2023 Mar-29 PM 02:00
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA
PFE/JRH: April 2023
GJ # 25
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
NORTHEASTERN DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )
) Case No.:
v. )
)
JENNIFER CORINNE SCOGGINS and )
JOHN DAVID SCOGGINS )
INDICTMENT
The Grand Jury charges that:
INTRODUCTION
At all times relevant to this Indictment:
1. The defendants, JENNIFER CORINNE SCOGGINS and JOHN
DAVID SCOGGINS, husband and wife, resided in Madison County within the
Northern District of Alabama.
2. The United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) was an
executive branch agency of the United States government that provided support to
entrepreneurs and small businesses.
3. The SBA enabled and provided for loans through banks, credit unions,
and other lenders. These loans had government-backed guarantees. In addition to
traditional SBA funding programs, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ Document 1 Filed 03/28/23 Page 2 of 8
Security (“CARES”) Act, established several new temporary programs and provided
for the expansion of others to address the COVID-19 pandemic, which was declared
a nationwide disaster by the President on March 13, 2020.
4. One of the new programs was the SBA Paycheck Protection Program
(“PPP”), which was a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses
to keep their workers on the payroll. Under this program, the SBA could forgive all
or part of loans if employees were kept on the payroll for eight weeks and borrowers
submitted documentation confirming the loan proceeds were used for certain
qualifying business expenses (i.e., payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities).
5. Interested applicants applied through an existing SBA lender or any
other participating federally insured financial institution. The PPP application
process required applicants to submit a Borrower Application Form through an
SBA-approved financial entity. The application contained information as to the
purpose of the loan, average monthly payroll, number of employees, and background
of the business and its owner. Applicants were also required to make certain good
faith certifications, including that economic uncertainty had necessitated their loan
requests for continued business operations, and that they intended to use the loan
proceeds only for the authorized purposes.
6. “Lender 1” was an SBA-approved lender headquartered in New York.
7. “Lender 2” was an SBA-approved lender headquartered in Utah.
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Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ Document 1 Filed 03/28/23 Page 3 of 8
8. “Lender 3” was an SBA-approved lender headquartered in Texas.
COUNT ONE
18 U.S.C. § 1349
Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud
9. The Grand Jury adopts and incorporates paragraphs 1 through 8 of the
Indictment as if specifically stated herein.
10. From in or about February 2021, and continuing until in or about June
2021, in the Northern District of Alabama and elsewhere, the defendants,
JENNIFER CORINNE SCOGGINS and
JOHN DAVID SCOGGINS,
did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together
and with each other to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Section 1343; that is, the defendants conspired to devise a scheme and artifice
to defraud and for obtaining money and property by means of materially false and
fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, by transmitting and causing to
be transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate or foreign commerce,
writings, signs, signals, pictures, and sounds for the purposes of executing such
scheme and artifice.
Manner and Means of the Conspiracy
11. It was a part of the conspiracy that the defendants, JENNIFER
CORINNE SCOGGINS and JOHN DAVID SCOGGINS, would and did agree
to defraud the SBA and the United States Government by applying for and/or
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Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ Document 1 Filed 03/28/23 Page 4 of 8
receiving approximately $1.7 million in fraudulent PPP loans on behalf of four
purportedly operational businesses. The PPP loan applications contained several
material misrepresentations and fraudulent supporting documentation. The
defendants received the PPP loan funds via interstate wire transfers into bank
accounts owned and controlled by the defendants, co-mingled the loan funds
between and among those accounts, and spent the PPP loan funds on unauthorized
uses including a personal home, automobiles, family vacations, and plastic surgery.
12. It was a further part of the conspiracy that the defendants, JENNIFER
CORINNE SCOGGINS and JOHN DAVID SCOGGINS, would and did apply
for no fewer than six PPP loans via at least three different SBA-approved lenders
headquartered in New York, Utah, and Texas.
13. It was a further part of the conspiracy that the PPP loan applications
contained several material misrepresentations and fraudulent supporting
documentation, including:
a. Misrepresentations that the businesses were going concerns employing
between 11 and 21 people;
b. Misrepresentations regarding the businesses’ total gross income and
average monthly payroll;
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Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ Document 1 Filed 03/28/23 Page 5 of 8
c. Falsified IRS Forms 941 (Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Returns)
fraudulently claiming the purported business paid wages and withheld federal
income tax on behalf of employees who, in fact, did not exist;
d. Falsified payroll reports; and,
e. Falsified bank statements.
14. It was a further part of the conspiracy that the defendants, JENNIFER
CORINNE SCOGGINS and JOHN DAVID SCOGGINS, would and did use
these material misrepresentations in the PPP loan applications and the fraudulent
supporting documentation to convince SBA-approved lenders to wire PPP loan
funds into bank accounts owned and controlled by the defendants.
15. It was a further part of the conspiracy that the defendants, JENNIFER
CORINNE SCOGGINS and JOHN DAVID SCOGGINS, would and did transfer
the PPP loan funds into their personal bank accounts and use the funds for several
unauthorized purposes, including purchasing a primary residence, purchasing
vehicles, a family vacation, and plastic surgery.
All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.
COUNT TWO - FIVE
18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2
Wire Fraud
16. The Grand Jury adopts and incorporates paragraphs 1 through 15 of the
Indictment as if specifically stated herein.
5
Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ Document 1 Filed 03/28/23 Page 6 of 8
17. From in or about February 2021, and continuing until in or about June
2021, in the Northern District of Alabama and elsewhere, the defendants,
JENNIFER CORINNE SCOGGINS and
JOHN DAVID SCOGGINS,
aided and abetted by one another, devised and intended to devise a scheme and
artifice to defraud, and for obtaining money and property by means of false and
fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.
Purpose of the Scheme and Artifice
18. The purposes of the scheme and artifice are set forth in paragraphs 11
through 15 of this Indictment.
The Wire Transmissions
19. On or about the date set forth below for each count, in the Northern
District of Alabama and elsewhere, the defendants,
JENNIFER CORINNE SCOGGINS and
JOHN DAVID SCOGGINS,
for the purpose of executing the above-described scheme and artifice, and attempting
to do so, did transmit and caused to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, and
television communications, in interstate and foreign commerce, certain writings,
signs, signals, pictures, and sounds, as described below for each count.
20. The allegations in paragraphs 16 through 19 of this Indictment are
realleged for each of Counts 2 through 5 as though fully set forth therein.
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Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ Document 1 Filed 03/28/23 Page 7 of 8
Count On or About Date Description of Wire
2 February 18, 2021 $207,543 wire from Lender 2 to a business
checking account controlled by Jennifer Scoggins
3 April 9, 2021 $366,163 wire from Lender 1 to a business
checking account controlled by Jennifer Scoggins
4 April 22, 2021 $206,402 wire from Lender 1 to a business
checking account controlled by John Scoggins
5 June 25, 2021 $366,163 wire from Lender 3 to a business
checking account controlled by Jennifer Scoggins
All in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2.
NOTICE OF FORFEITURE
1. The allegations contained in Counts One through Five of this
Indictment are re-alleged and incorporated by reference for the purpose of alleging
forfeitures pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Sections 981(a)(1)(C) and
982(a)(2)(A), and Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c).
2. Upon conviction of the offenses in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Sections 1343 and 1349, set forth in Counts One through Five of this
Indictment, the defendants shall forfeit to the United States, pursuant to Title 18,
United States Code, Sections 981(a)(1)(C) and 982(a)(2)(A), and Title 28, United
States Code, Section 2461(c), any and all property constituting, or derived from,
proceeds the defendants obtained directly or indirectly, as a result of the commission
of said offenses, including but not limited to a sum of money in United States
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Case 5:23-cr-00087-MHH-HNJ Document 1 Filed 03/28/23 Page 8 of 8
currency representing the amount of proceeds traceable to the commission of said
offenses.
3. If any of the above-described forfeitable property, as a result of any act
or omission of the defendants:
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,
e. has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided
without difficulty;
the United States shall be entitled to forfeiture of substitute property, pursuant to
Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p), as incorporated by Title 18, United
States Code, Section 982(b)(1) and Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c).
A TRUE BILL
/s/ Electronic Signature
FOREPERSON OF THE GRAND JURY
PRIM F. ESCALONA
United States Attorney
/s/ Electronic Signature
JONATHAN “JACK” HARRINGTON
Assistant United States Attorney
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