United States Attorney Lawrence Keefe Expresses Commitment to Prosecuting Those Who Defraud the Paycheck Protection Plan

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida dated Friday, September 11, 2020, in which United States Attorney Lawrence Keefe expresses his office's commitment to prosecuting Paycheck Protection Program fraud. It reports that Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt announced charges against the 50th defendant nationwide accused of defrauding the PPP, a South Carolina indictment of seven people for laundering over $750,000, including over $390,000 from a PPP loan. Keefe is quoted saying the district is devoting significant resources to prosecuting those who divert relief funds. The release describes the CARES Act, which it says was enacted March 29, 2020, including up to $349 billion in PPP loans and EIDL loans of up to $2 million.

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Captured: 2026-09-26
Source site: www-justice-gov

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Full text

U. S. Department of Justice

Lawrence Keefe
United States Attorney
Northern District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, September 11, 2020 For more information, contact:
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Northern District of Florida
(850) 216-3829
USAFLN.Press.Office@usdoj.gov
Follow us on Twitter @NDFLnews

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY LAWRENCE KEEFE EXPRESSES COMMITMENT
TO PROSECUTING THOSE WHO DEFRAUD THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PLAN

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced at a press conference yesterday that charges
have now been filed against the 50th defendant, nation-wide, accused of defrauding the Paycheck
Protection Program (PPP). The PPP consists of loans guaranteed by the Small Business
Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Tiara Walker of Miami, Florida, was arrested on September 9, 2020, on charges of Wire Fraud,
Bank Fraud, and Conspiracy to Commit Wire and Bank Fraud. The complaint alleges that from
May to July, 2020, Walker and her co-conspirators prepared at least 90 fraudulent PPP loan
applications worth more than $24 million dollars. Forty-two of those loans were approved and
funded for a total of approximately $17.4 million dollars. In Columbia, South Carolina, seven
individuals were indicted yesterday for laundering over $750,000 of fraudulently obtained funds
including over $390,000 from a PPP loan. The South Carolina indictment marks the 50th PPP-
fraud case to date across the country. Prosecutors in the Northern District of Florida are also
committed to cracking down on those who would steal money meant for those who have been
among the hardest-hit during the COVID-19 crisis.

“For the past few months, our prosecutors have been working tirelessly with our federal law
enforcement partners, including the Small Business Administration-Office of Inspector General,
IRS-Criminal Investigations, FBI, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of
Inspector General, to detect and investigate fraudulent PPP loans,” said U.S. Attorney
Keefe. “Though many of these investigations are ongoing and the details of them are not yet
publically known, the Northern District of Florida is devoting significant resources to prosecute
offenders who divert the limited COVID-19 relief funds away from legitimate small business
owners.”
The CARES Act is a federal law enacted March 29, 2020. It is designed to provide emergency
financial assistance to millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects resulting
from the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act is the
authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and
certain other expenses through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in
additional PPP funding. The CARES Act also authorizes the SBA to provide Economic Injury
Disaster Loans (EIDL) of up to $2 million to eligible small businesses experiencing financial
disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a
maturity of two years and an interest rate of one percent. Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds
for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and
principal to be forgiven if businesses spend the proceeds on these expenses within a set time
period and use at least a certain percentage of the loan toward payroll expenses.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it
by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-
5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-
disaster-complaint-form.

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
available 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 for
the Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the
history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

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