Criminal Information — United States v. Darian Casteele Tyler, Eastern District of North Carolina (Document 1)

Summary

A criminal information in United States v. Darian Casteele Tyler, Case 5:23-cr-00338-D, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Western Division, filed October 24, 2023 as Document 1. It charges conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, from in or about April 2021 to in or about February 2022. The information alleges that a facilitator identified as E.W. prepared a PPP application for Tyler’s Delivery Express, LLC claiming seven employees and an annual payroll of approximately $700,000, submitted to Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC, along with fraudulent IRS Forms 940 and 941. It alleges Tyler then wrote checks to purported employees who returned money, and that E.W. obtained loan forgiveness from the SBA. The forfeiture notice seeks a money judgment of at least $94,790.80.

Summary drafted by a model from the text of the original file linked on this page and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Cite this document

“Criminal Information — United States v. Darian Casteele Tyler, Eastern District of North Carolina (Document 1).” Original at ecf.nced.uscourts.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/information-usa-v-tyler-dkt-1-e-d-n-c-7976d3fdc4/, SHA-256 68f4eb172041f208ee26b0e9dfd461fabe16db2a46f77b546260ed6c67ed0645.

Full text

rlLED
OCT 2 4 2023
DGB
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
WESTERN DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )
)
V. ) CRIMINAL INFORMATION
)
DARIAN CASTEELE TYLER )

The United States Attorney charges the following:

INTRODUCTORY ALLEGATIONS

1. From in or about April 2021 to in or about February 2022, Defendant

DARIAN CASTEELE TYLER and others, known and unknown to the United States

Attorney, conspired to defraud the United States Government in the name of a

company they controlled. This scheme involved frauds upon institutions and

agencies engaged to provide financial assistance to the public arising from the

COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID Fraud: The Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP")

2. In March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and

Economic Securi~y (CARES) Act, which was designed to provide emergency financial

assistance to millions of Americans who were suffering from the economic effects

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 1 of 10
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. 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. The mission of the SBA was to maintain and

strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small

business and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters.

4. 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 Paycheck Protection

Program (PPP). In or around April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in

additional PPP funding.

5. To obtain a PPP loan, businesses were required to submit a PPP loan

application, signed by an authorized representative of the business, acknowledging

the program rules. The business was required to state (a) its average monthly

payroll expenses and (b) the number of employees. These figures were used to

calculate the amount of money the small 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.

6. A PPP loan application was required to be processed by a participating

financial institution ("Lender"). Many Lenders constituted financial institutions, as

that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 20. If a PPP loan

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 2 of 10
application was approved, the Lender funded the PPP loan using its own moneys,

which were 100% guaranteed by the SBA. Data from the application, including

information about the borrower, the total amount of the loan, and the listed number

of employees, were transmitted by the Lender to the SBA in the course of processing

the loan.

7. PPP loan proceeds were required to be used by businesses on certain

permissible expenses: payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. Loans

provided through the PPP have government-backed guarantees and are 100%

forgivable if the borrower submits documentation to the PPP Lender and SBA

demonstrating that at least sixty percent (60%) of the PPP loan proceeds were utilized

to meet existing payroll obligations and to retain employees.

8. Funds disbursed under the PPP and other programs are referred to

collectively herein as "COVID Loans."

The Scheme to Defraud

9. From in or about April 2021, to in or about February 2022, the

Defendant, DARIAN CASTEELE TYLER (hereinafter "TYLER") conspired with

E.W., S.C., and others to engage in a fraud upon the PPP program. TYLER engaged

in fraud upon the PPP program in the name of Tyler's Delivery Express, LLC; a

corporation TYLER owned and controlled. TYLER resided in South Carolina while

E.W. and S.C. resided in Texas.

10. E.W. assisted numerous other companies and individuals (collectively

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 3 of 10
"Borrowers") located around the country, and particularly in the Eastern District of

North Carolina, to fraudulently obtain PPP and other COVID Loans. In exchange

for their assistance in obtaining COVID Loans, the Borrowers such as TYLER paid

E.W. a fee representing a percentage of the fraudulent loan proceeds. In total, E.W.

and their spouse, S.C., collectively facilitated the fraudulent disbursement of more

than $15 Million in COVID Loans.

11. To carry out the scheme, the conspirators engaged in the following series

of steps:

a. E.W. came into contact with TYLER-a Borrower who desired to

obtain a PPP loan. TYLER and E.W. communicated through

interstate text messages, phone calls,' and emails. During these

contacts, KW. and TYLER discussed the process by which E.W.

would assist TYLER to secure a PPP loan.

b. TYLER supplied E.W. with various information concerning TYLER

and his company, which would be used to obtain the PPP loan, such

as the company's federal tax identification number the bank account

information for the Tyler's Delivery Express, LLC, including the

account number and routing information.

c. E.W. and S.C. used the information supplied by TYLER to

fraudulently apply for a PPP loan. In furtherance of the application,

E.W. created documents that falsel~ reflected such information as

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 4 of 10
the annual payroll, gross receipts, expenses, number of employees,

and employee names for Tyler's Delivery Express, LLC.

d. E.W. or S.C. then supplied fraudulent documents to TYLER via

interstate email transmission for review and signature, such as the

. Paycheck Protection Progra:rp. Borrower Application Form.· These

documents were fraudulent because, among other reasons, they

intentionally misrepresented the average monthly payroll and true

number of employees for Tyler's Delivery Express, LLC.

e. E.W. or S.C. also supplied to TYLER via interstate email, fraudulent

IRS forms: Form 940 and Form 941 documents. The forms were

fraudulent because they misrepresented the actual annual and

quarterly wages for TYLER's company. TYLER received, signed,

and returned the fraudulent and backdated Form 940 and Form

941s.

f. The PPP loan application was electronically submitted or caused to

be submitted by E.W. or S.C. in TYLER's name, and received through

SBA servers located in Oregon, using the fraudulent information

described above, by electronically transmitting the information to

the lending institution, Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC, which

is based in California, via interstate wire transmission.

g. Specifically, the fraudulent PPP application and supporting

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 5 of 10
paperwork claimed seven employees and an annual p~yroll of

approximately $700,000, figures designed to yield a PPP loan in

amount of just under $150,000. E.W. engineered this result because

he would be able to apply for forgiveness from the SBA with minimal

paperwork requirements.

h. TYLER or another member of the conspiracy acting at E.W.'s

direction electronically signed the promissory note or promise to pay.

1. The PPP loan monies were then deposited via interstate wire

transfer into TYLER's First Citizens Bank account ending in -9118

associated with Tyler's Delivery Express, LLC.

12. After receiving proceeds from the PPP fraud described above, TYLER

carried out a series of steps orchestrated by E.W. that made it appear as though

TYLER's company was paying biweekly payroll to its employees.

13. Over an approximately four-to-six-week period, TYLER wrote checks

payable to each of the individuals previously named as purported employees of Tyler's

Delivery Express, LLC. Each of the checks contained a memo notation stating a "pay

period" and a two-week interval. Collectively, these checks made it falsely appear

that each of the check recipients was engaged in work on behalf of TYLER's company,

and receiving regular wages during each of the sated periods. In reality, none of the

check recipients previously received wages from Tyler's Delivery Express, LLC

comparable to those paid from the PPP proceeds.

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 6 of 10
14. The purported employees returned some or all of the money back to

TYLER, who then wrote checks to E.W. to compensate them for his assistance in

helping TYLER to fraudulently obtain the PPP loan.

15. E.W., acting on TYLER's behalf, successfully applied for loan

forgiveness from the SBA by falsely attesting that the PPP proceeds were used to pay

employee wages.

THE CHARGE

16. The United States Attorney realleges and incorporates by reference

herein all of the allegations contained in the preceding paragraphs of this Criminal

Information, and further alleges that TYLER, E.W., and others known to the United

States Attorney, carried out the conspiracy in the manner and means as set forth in

those paragraphs.

17. From in or about April 2021 to in or about February 2022, in the Eastern

District of North Carolina and elsewhere, the Defendant DARIAN CASTEELE

TYLER, and others known to the United States Attorney, did knowingly combine,

conspire, confederate, and agree, and did have a tacit understanding with each other,

to commit an offense against the United States: that is, to knowingly devise and

intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and property

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

promises, and for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice, to knowingly

transmit and cause to be transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 7 of 10
commerce, any writings, signs, signals, and sounds in violation of Title 18, United

States Code, Section 1343.

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 8 of 10
FORFEITURE NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that all right, title and interest in the property described

herein is subject to forfeiture.

Upon conviction of any offense charged herein constituting "specified unlawful

activity" (as defined in 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(c)(7) and 1961(1)), or a conspiracy to commit

such offense, the defendant shall forfeit to the United States, pursuant to 18 U.S.C.

§ 981(a)(l)(C), as made applicable by 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c), any property, real or

personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to the said offense.

The forfeitable property includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Forfeiture Money Judgment:

a) A sum of money representing the gross proceeds of the offense(s) charged

herein against DARIAN CASTEELE TYLER in the amount of at least

$94,790.80.

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

omission of a defendant: cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence; has

been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party; 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 divided without difficulty; it is the

intent of the United States, pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Se,ction 853(p),

to seek forfeiture of any other property of said defendant up to the value of the

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 9 of 10
forfeitable property described above.

MICHAEL F. EASLEY, JR
United States Attorney

BY:
DA~
Assistant United States Attorney

Case 5:23-cr-00338-D Document 1 Filed 10/24/23 Page 10 of 10

File and source

File: 1-information-as-to-darian-casteele-tyler.pdf
Size: 102,462 bytes
SHA-256: 68f4eb172041f208ee26b0e9dfd461fabe16db2a46f77b546260ed6c67ed0645
Our copy: 1-information-as-to-darian-casteele-tyler.pdf
Original: PACER (login required)