Indictment — United States v. Carl Ulm, District of South Carolina (Entry Number 2)

Summary

An Indictment filed 12/07/22 as Entry Number 2 in United States of America v. Carl Ulm, No. 2:22-cr-00994-BHH, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division. Count One charges wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2. The grand jury alleges that, from in or about January 2021, Ulm devised a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration by obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program loan for Anchor Restoration Contractors, LLC after its assets were sold on January 26, 2021. It alleges that Synovus Bank distributed $204,132.50 on or about February 19, 2021, and that Ulm directed $160,000 transferred to another account. A forfeiture section seeks proceeds of a minimum of approximately $204,132.50.

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2:22-cr-00994-BHH Date Filed 12/07/22 = Entry Number 2 Page 1 of 6

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
CHARLESTON DIVISION

18 U.S.C. §2

18 U.S.C. § 1343

18 U.S.C. § 981(a)\(1(C)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )
5 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c)

VS.

CARL ULM INDICTMENT

COUNT ONE
(Wire Fraud)

THE GRAND JURY CHARGES:

BACKGROUND

1. The United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) is an executive branch
agency of the United States government that provided support to entrepreneurs and small
businesses. The mission of the SBA is to maintain and strengthen the nation’s economy by
enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by assisting in the economic
recovery of communities after disasters. As part of this effort, the SBA enables and provides for
loans through banks, credit unions, and other lenders. These loans have government-backed
guarantees.

2. In March 2020, Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security Act (CARES Act) to help businesses impacted by COVID-19 to continue paying their
employees.

3. The Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) was a COVID-19 pandemic relief

program administered by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) that provided forgivable
2:22-cr-00994-BHH Date Filed 12/07/22 = Entry Number 2 Page 2 of 6

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

4, To obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying business had to submit a PPP loan application,
which 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 to be eligible to obtain the PPP loan, including that the
business was in operation and either had employees for whom it paid salaries and payroll taxes or
paid independent contractors. A business applying for a PPP loan was required to provide
documentation showing its payroll expenses, such as filed federal income tax documents.

5. PPP loan applications were electronically submitted or caused to be submitted by
the borrower and received through SBA servers located in Virginia and/or Oregon. Once
approved, the 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.

6. The proceeds ofa PPP loan could be used 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 borrowers to purchase consumer
goods, automobiles, personal residences, clothing, jewelry, to pay the borrower’s personal federal
income taxes, or to fund the borrower’s ordinary day-to-day living expenses unrelated to the
specified authorized expenses.

7. Synovus Bank was a third-party participating lender in the PPP program.
2:22-cr-00994-BHH Date Filed 12/07/22 = Entry Number 2 Page 3 of 6

8. CARL ULM (“ULM”), until January 26, 2021, was the owner of Anchor
Restoration Contractors, LLC (hereinafter “Anchor 1”), a construction company based in North
Charleston, South Carolina.

9. On January 26, 2021, ULM sold the assets of Anchor 1 to Randall Sizemore and
his company Anchor Restoration Construction, LLC (hereinafter “Anchor 2”).

10. Asaresult of the sale to Anchor 2, Anchor 1 was legally a non-operational business
after January 26, 2021, and had no payroll expenses, rent/mortgage, accounts payable, and/or other

bills incurred.

The Scheme to Defraud

11. From in or about January 2021, in the District of South Carolina and elsewhere,
the DEFENDANT CARL ULM, as a principal and/or aider and abettor, knowingly devised and
intended to devise a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration, and to obtain money
and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, and.
the concealment of material facts, and during such period, knowingly transmitted and caused to be
transmitted in interstate commerce, by means of wire communications, certain electronic signals,
for the purpose of executing the scheme and artifice to defraud relating to the fraudulent
application for, and receipt of, PPP funds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, section
1343.

Manner and Means of the Scheme to Defraud

12. It was part of the scheme that ULM, as a principal and/or aider and abettor, did:
a. Defraud financial institutions and the Small Business Administration using
interstate wires to fraudulently submit documents to obtain a PPP Loan to

which ULM and Anchor 1 were not entitled.
2:22-cr-00994-BHH Date Filed 12/07/22 = Entry Number 2 Page 4 of 6

b. Defraud the Federal Government into paying out PPP Loan funds for which
ULM and Anchor | did not qualify and to which they were not entitled.

c. Certify in the PPP loan application that his business Anchor 1 had not
permanently closed.

13. On or about February 19, 2021, based on ULM?’s fraudulent and false
representations and submission, Synovus Bank did distribute PPP loan proceeds into Anchor 1’s
bank account at Synovus Bank in the amount of $204,132.50.

i4. It was further part of the scheme that ULM directed $160,000 of the fraudulently
obtained funds be transferred out of Anchor 1’s bank account to another bank account controlled
by ULM for his own personal use.

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 2.
2:22-cr-00994-BHH Date Filed 12/07/22 = Entry Number 2 Page 5 of 6

FORFEITURE

WIRE FRAUD:

Upon conviction to violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 as charged in the
Indictment, the Defendant, CARL ULM, shall forfeit to the United States, any property, real or
personal, which constitutes, is traceable, or is derived from proceeds traceable to such violation.
PROPERTY:

Pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 981(a)(1)(C), and Title 28, United States
Code, Section 2461(c), the property subject to forfeiture includes, but is not limited to, the
following:

Proceeds/Forfeiture Judgment:

A sum of money equal to all proceeds the Defendant obtained, directly or
indirectly, from the offense charged in the Indictment, that is, a minimum
of approximately $204,132.50 in United States currency, and all interest and
proceeds traceable thereto, and/or such sum that equals all property which
constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to his violation of 18

SUBSTITUTE ASSETS:

If any of the property described above as being subject to forfeiture, as a result of any act
or omission of the Defendant-

Cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;

Has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third person;
Has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court;

Has been substantially diminished in value; or

Has been commingled with other property which cannot be
subdivided without difficulty;

it is the intention of the United States, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(b)(1),
incorporating Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p), to seek forfeiture of any other property

of the Defendant up to the value of the forfeitable property.
2:22-cr-00994-BHH Date Filed 12/07/22 = Entry Number 2 Page 6 of 6

Pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 981(a)(1)(C), and Title 28, United States

Code, Section 2461(c).

ADAIR F. BOROUGHS
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

By: Anly F. Bower, Id No. 11784
Assistant United States Attorney
151 Meeting Street, Suite 200
Charleston, South Carolina 29401
Telephone: (843) 727-4381
Facsimile: (843) 727-4443
Email: amy.bower@usdoj.gov


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