Information — United States v. Jordan C. Larkins (D.N.J.)
Summary
In this information, filed after Jordan C. Larkins waived prosecution by indictment in open court, the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey charges Larkins with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. It alleges that from in or about May 2020 through in or about July 2020 Larkins, of Edison and Somerset, New Jersey, submitted at least 11 fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications for businesses under Larkins's control, including Silver Star Advisors, Inc., obtaining approximately $923,900. It further alleges three Paycheck Protection Program applications that brought approximately $717,570, including $280,830 disbursed on or about June 3, 2020. The money laundering count charges a transfer of approximately $51,000 on or about June 11, 2020 to a bank account located in Ghana.
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USA0#2020R01195/FMC
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Hon.
v. Crim. No. 22-
JORDAN C. LARKINS 18 U.S.C. § 1343
18 U.S.C. § 1344
18 U.S.C. § 1957
INFORMATION
The defendant having waived in open court prosecution by indictment,
the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey charges:
Count One
(Wire Fraud)
1. At all times as relevant to this Information:
a. Defendant JORDAN C. LARKINS ("LARKINS") resided in
Edison and Somerset, New Jersey.
b. LARKINS owned and controlled a series of purported
businesses through which he submitted applications for federal COVID-19
emergency relief funds, including Silver Star Advisors, Inc. ("Silver Star"), a
Wyoming corporation.
c. Victim Lender 1 was a financial institution as defined in 18
U.S.C. § 20 that was headquartered in New Jersey.
d. The Victim Lenders, including Victim Lender 1, were three
separate financial institutions as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 20 that each served as a
lender for the Paycheck Protection Program described below.
e. Bank 1 was a financial institution headquartered in Boston,
Massachusetts.
The Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") and Economic Injury Disaster
Loan Program ("EIDL")
f. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
("CARES") Act was a federal law enacted in or about March 2020 designed to
provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering economic
effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the
CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small
businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through a program referred
to as the PPP. In or about April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in
additional PPP funding.
g. To obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying business was required to
submit a PPP loan application, which is signed by an authorized representative of
the business. The 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. In the loan application, the
small business must state, among other things, its average monthly payroll
expenses and number of employees. These figures were used to calculate the
amount of money the business was eligible to receive under the PPP. In addition,
businesses applying for a PPP loan were required to provide documentation
showing their payroll expenses.
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h. A PPP loan application had to be processed by a participating
lender. If a loan application was approved, the participating lend~r funded the loan
using its own money, which was 100% guaranteed by U.S. Small Business
Administration (the "SBA"). Data from the application, including information about
the borrower, the total amount of the loan, and the listed number of employees, was
transmitted by the lender to the SBA in the course of processing the loan.
1. PPP loan proceeds had to be used by the business on certain
permissible expenses such as payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and
utilities. The PPP allowed the interest and principal on the PPP loan to be entirely
forgiven if the business used the loan proceeds on these expense items within a
designated period of time after receiving the proceeds and used a certain amount of
the PPP loan proceeds on payroll expenses.
J. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan ("EIDL") program was an
SBA program that provided low-interest financing to small businesses, renters, and
homeowners in regions affected by declared disasters.
k. The CARES Act authorized the SBA to provide EID Ls of up
to $2 million to eligible small businesses that were experiencing substantial
financial disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. In order to obtain an EIDL, a qualifying business was
required to submit an application to the SBA and provide information about its
operations, such as the number of employees, gross revenues for the 12-month
period preceding the disaster, and cost of goods sold in the 12-month period
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preceding the disaster. In the case of EID Ls for COVID-19 relief, the 12-month
period constituted the 12 months preceding January 31, 2020. In addition, the
business entity must have existed in an operational condition on February 1, 2020.
m. The amount of the EIDL was determined based, in part, on
the information the applicant provided regarding the revenue, employees, and cost
of goods of the company. The SBA directly issued any funds disbursed under an
EIDL to the applicant company. A company was permitted to use EIDL funds for
payroll expenses, sick leave, production costs, and business obligations, such as
debts, rent, and mortgage payments. If an applicant also obtained a loan under the
PPP, the applicant company was prohibited from using EIDL funds for the same
purpose as the PPP funds.
The Scheme to Defraud
2. Beginning at least as early as in or about May 2020, through in
or about July 2020, in the District of New Jersey and elsewhere, defendant
JORDAN C. LARKINS
knowingly and intentionally devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice to
defraud the SBA and to obtain money and property by means of materially false
and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, which scheme and artifice
was in substance as set forth below.
Goal of the Scheme to Defraud
3. The goal of the scheme was for LARKINS to enrich himself by
fraudulently obtaining federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds from the SBA that
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were meant for distressed small businesses by submitting fraudulent loan
applications.
Manner and Means of Scheme to Defraud
4. It was part of the scheme that:
a. From in or about May 2020 through in or about July 2020,
LARKINS submitted at least 11 fraudulent EIDL loan applications to the SBA on
behalf of several purported businesses that LARKINS controlled, including Silver
Star. On these loan applications, which sought a total of approximately $923,900 in
EIDL funds, LARKINS falsified various information, including the number of
employees, the federal tax returns for his purported businesses, payroll documents,
and bank records. LARKINS obtained a total of approximately $923,900 in EIDL
funds and then misused the loan proceeds, including by making cash withdrawals,
transferring funds to a foreign bank account, and for various personal expenses.
b. On or about May 20, 2020, LARKINS submitted an EIDL
application to the SBA for Silver Star seeking a loan for approximately $149,900
(the "Silver Star EIDL Application"). Larkins submitted the Silver Star EIDL
Application in his name and listed himself as the owner of Silver Star.
c. The Silver Star EIDL Application and its supporting documents
contained materially false and fraudulent information, including the number of
employees, the federal tax returns for Silver Star, the purported annual gross
revenue for the business for the 12-month period prior to the disaster (i.e., January
31, 2019 through January 31, 2020), and bank account balances.
5
d. Through the Silver Star EIDL Application, LARKINS
fraudulently caused the SBA to disburse approximately $149,900 in EIDL proceeds
on or about July 14, 2020 via an interstate wire transfer through the District of
New Jersey to a bank account at Bank 1 that LARKINS controlled (the "LARKINS
Bank Account").
e. After fraudulently obtaining $149,900 in EIDL funds from the
SBA, LARKINS made a series of cash withdrawals and various transfers for
personal expenses from the LARKINS Bank Account.
5. On or about July 14, 2020, for the purpose of executing and
attempting to execute the scheme and artifice to defraud, in the District of New
Jersey and elsewhere, defendant
JORDAN C. LARKINS
knowingly and intentionally transmitted and caused to be transmitted by means of
wire communications in interstate commerce certain writings, signs, signals,
pictures, and sounds, namely a wire transfer of approximately $149,900 in EIDL
funds from the SBA into the LARKINS Bank Account at Bank 1.
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
6
Count Two
(Bank Fraud)
6. The allegations set forth in Paragraphs 1 through 5 of Count
One of this Information are realleged here.
7. From on or about June 1, 2020, through on or about June 29,
2020 in the District of New Jersey and elsewhere, defendant
JORDAN C. LARKINS
knowingly and intentionally executed and attempted to execute a scheme and
artifice to defraud financial institutions, namely the Victim Lenders, and to obtain
money, funds, and credits, assets, and other property owned by, and under the
control of, the Victim Lenders by means of materially false and fraudulent
pretenses, representations, and promises, which scheme and artifice was in
substance as set forth below.
Goal of the Scheme to Defraud
8. The goal of the scheme was for LARKINS to enrich himself by
fraudulently obtaining federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds from the Victim
Lenders that were meant for distressed small businesses by submitting fraudulent
loan applications.
Manner and Means of Scheme to Defraud
9. It was part of the scheme that:
a. From on or about June 1, 2020 through on or about June 29,
2020, LARKINS submitted three separate applications to the Victim Lenders on
behalf of his purported businesses, including Silver Star. On these loan
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applications, which sought a total of approximately $717,570 in PPP funds,
LARKINS falsified various information, including the number of employees, the
federal tax returns for his purported businesses, payroll documents, and bank
records. LARKINS obtained a total of approximately $717,570 in PPP funds and
then misused the loan proceeds, including by making cash withdrawals,
transferring funds to a foreign bank account, and for various personal expenses.
b. On or about June 1, 2020, LARKINS submitted a PPP
application to Lender 1 for Silver Star seeking a loan for approximately $280,830
(the "Silver Star PPP Application"). Larkins submitted the Silver Star PPP
Application in his name and listed himself as the owner of Silver Star.
c. The Silver Star PPP Application and the supporting documents
contained materially false or fraudulent information, including the number of
employees, the average monthly payroll, the federal tax returns for Silver Star, and
bank account information.
d. LARKINS' Silver Star PPP Application caused Victim Lender 1
to disburse approximately $280,830 in PPP loan proceeds on or about June 3, 2020,
into the LARKINS Bank Account.
e. After fraudulently obtaining $280,830 in PPP funds from Victim
Lender 1, on or about the same day the PPP funds were deposited, LARKINS
transferred the full loan amount into another account at Bank 1 (the "LARKINS
Bank Account 2"). He then made a series of cash withdrawals and transferred
funds to a foreign bank account in Ghana.
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10. On or about June 3, 2020, for the purpose of executing and
attempting to execute the scheme and artifice to defraud, in the District of New
Jersey and elsewhere, defendant
JORDAN C. LARKINS
knowingly and intentionally executed and attempted to execute a scheme and
artifice to defraud Victim Lender 1, the deposits of which were insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and to obtain money, funds, credits, assets,
and other property owned by, and under the control of, Victim Lender 1 by means of
materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, that is,
$280,830 in PPP loan proceeds.
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344.
9
Count Three
(Money Laundering)
11. The allegations set forth in Paragraphs 1 through 10 of Counts
One and Two of this Information are realleged here.
12. On or about June 11, 2020, in the District of New Jersey and
elsewhere, defendant
JORDAN C. LARKINS
knowingly engaged in the following monetary transaction by, through and to a
financial institution, affecting interstate and foreign commerce, in criminally
derived property of a greater value than $10,000, that is, the transfer
approximately $51,000 from the LARKINS Bank Account 2 to a bank account
located in Ghana, such property having been derived from a specified unlawful
activity, that is, bank fraud.
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957.
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FORFEITURE ALLEGATION AS TO COUNTS ONE THROUGH THREE
1. As a result of committing the offenses alleged in Counts One
through Three of the Information, LARKINS shall forfeit to the United States,
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(2), any property constituting or derived from
proceeds obtained directly or indirectly as a result of such offenses.
SUBSTITUTE ASSETS PROVISION
(Applicable to All Forfeiture Allegations)
2. If by any act or omission of the defendant any of the property
subject to forfeiture:
a. cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;
b. has been transferred of 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,
it is the intent of the United States, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853(p), as incorporated
by 18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(l) and 28 U.S.C §2461(c), to seek forfeiture of any other
property of such defendant up to the value of the forfeitable property described
above.
United States Attorney
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