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Home Source documents North-Central Florida Blimp Company Executive Sentenced to Over Five Years in Federal Prison for COVID-19 Relief Fraud

North-Central Florida Blimp Company Executive Sentenced to Over Five Years in Federal Prison for COVID-19 Relief Fraud

Summary

A release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida, dated Tuesday, January 31, 2023, reporting that Patrick Parker Walsh, 42, of Williston, Florida, was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. Between April 7, 2020 and January 21, 2021 Walsh submitted 16 fraudulent PPP loan applications, including for his blimp companies in Levy County, seeking $11,950,439 and receiving $4,996,167, and between March 2020 and July 2020 he submitted 18 fraudulent EIDL applications that drew $2,822,000. Proceeds went to real estate in Florida and Texas, oil leases and mortgage payoffs. Walsh was ordered to pay $7,818,167 in restitution to the SBA, with forfeiture in the same amount, followed by three years of supervised release.

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                                                    U. S. Department of Justice

                                                    Jason R. Coody
                                                    United States Attorney
                                                    Northern District of Florida


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, January 31, 2023                           United States Attorney’s Office
                                                    Northern District of Florida
                                                    (850) 216-3845
                                                    libby.lastinger@usdoj.gov
                                                    Follow us on Twitter | @NDFLnews

    NORTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA BLIMP COMPANY EXECUTIVE SENTENCED
   TO OVER FIVE YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR COVID-19 RELIEF FRAUD

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Patrick Parker Walsh, 42, Williston, Florida, was sentenced
today, after previously pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money
laundering in connection to COVID-19 pandemic relief. Walsh was sentenced to 66 months in
federal prison. The sentence was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the
Northern District of Florida.

“The theft of any amount of taxpayer funds is inexcusable,” said U.S. Attorney Coody.
“However, the defendant’s deceptive acts of diverting millions of dollars in emergency financial
assistance from small businesses during the pandemic is simply beyond the pale. Today’s
sentence both punishes the defendant’s criminal conduct and should serve as a significant
deterrent to others who would selfishly steal from their fellow citizens to unlawfully enrich
themselves. With our law enforcement partners, we remain committed to investigating and
prosecuting those who engage in acts of covid-related fraud.”

Court documents reflect that between April 7, 2020, and January 21, 2021, Walsh submitted a
total of 16 fraudulent applications to multiple federally insured financial institutions and other
qualified lenders for Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans in the names of multiple
businesses, including his blimp companies which were headquartered in Levy County. Walsh’s
false PPP loan applications included several discrepancies: no record of some employees that
were listed in Walsh’s applications, that the number of employees listed in multiple applications
was more than previously listed in employer tax records, and that some of the companies claimed
in the applications were not even established businesses as of February 15, 2020 (the beginning
of the COVID-19 pandemic relief programs). Additional investigation revealed that Walsh had
used several of the same employees on PPP loan applications for different companies.

“Today, the defendant in this case was brought to justice for exploiting Federal relief programs
and using the obtained funds for his personal gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Kyle A. Myles,
of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG). “We
will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold those accountable who take
advantage of such programs and undermine the integrity of our Nation’s banking system.”
Walsh’s fraudulent PPP loan applications sought a total of $11,950,439 in PPP loan funds, of
which he received a total of $4,996,167. Further, between March 2020 and July 2020, Walsh
submitted a total of 18 fraudulent applications to the SBA for Economic Injury Disaster Loans
(EIDLs), in his own name and in the name of his wife. Walsh’s false EIDL applications were
approved and a total of $2,822,000 was disbursed to him.

“Taxpayers thinking about stealing from government relief programs should stop in their tracks
and simply look at the consequences of taking the next step,” said Ronald A. Loecker IRS-CI
Acting Special Agent in Charge. “Today's sentencing is the result of federal law enforcement
banding together to enforce not only the nation's tax laws, but especially cases where someone,
for their own personal benefit, steals resources from the American people.”

“This sentence demonstrates that those that steal taxpayer dollars will be held accountable,” said
SBA OIG’s Eastern Region Special Agent in Charge Amaleka Brathwaite-McCall. “I want to
thank the U.S. Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and
pursuit of justice.”

Additionally, Walsh engaged in multiple monetary transactions that involved at least $10,000 of
fraudulently obtained PPP loan or EIDL proceeds that he obtained through his wire fraud
scheme. Many of these transactions included payments for the purchase of real estate in Florida
and Texas, oil leases, and to pay off his mortgage loans.

“Patrick Walsh abused a program that was designed to ease suffering caused by the COVID-19
pandemic,” says Sherri E. Onks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division.
“Instead of using millions of dollars in federal funds to help keep struggling businesses afloat
and honest workers employed, he selfishly diverted it for his own personal gain. The FBI will
hold accountable anyone who takes advantage of those in need during a national emergency, and
we remain committed to working with our partners to ensure fraudsters are brought.”

The PPP, administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”), was designed to
provide low-interest, forgivable loans to applicants to help fund certain permissible expenses for
qualifying businesses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which included payroll costs, interest on
mortgages, rent, and utilities. The EIDL program, also administered by the SBA, was designed
to provide low-interest loans to small businesses in regions affected by declared disasters. The
CARES Act authorized the SBA to provide EIDLs, up to $2 million, to eligible small businesses
experiencing substantial financial disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walsh’s imprisonment will be followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally,
Walsh was ordered to pay restitution to the SBA in the amount of $7,818,167, and the Court
entered an order of forfeiture in the same amount.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-
Criminal Investigation, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General
(FDIC-OIG), and the U.S. Small Business Administration-Office of Inspector General (SBA-
OIG. Assistant United States Attorneys Justin M. Keen and David P. Byron prosecuted the case
with the assistance of Assistant United States Attorney Katherine Kerwin, of the United States
Attorney’s Financial Litigation Program.
This case was prosecuted as part the Department of Justice’s prosecution of fraud schemes that
exploit the CARES Act relief programs. The CARES Act is a federal law enacted in March
2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering
the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the two programs that were
developed through CARES Act is the PPP. It provides funding to businesses through PPP loans
for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. PPP allows the interest and principal
on loans to be forgiven if the business spends proceeds on certain expense items within a
designated time and uses a certain percentage of the loan on payroll expenses. The Department
of Justice remains vigilant in detecting, investigating, and prosecuting wrongdoing related to the
crisis.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that
serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access
public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern
District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

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