A Miami girl who was employed by the Small Enterprise Administration (SBA) has been slapped with a number of fraud fees associated to the pandemic aid scheme.
Malaina Chapman, 37, of Hialeah, Florida, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and financial institution fraud. She made her preliminary look in Miami federal court docket on July 10.
In keeping with the legal criticism, Chapman was employed as a Catastrophe Aid Specialist with the SBA from September 28, 2020, till her resignation on March 18, 2021. Throughout her tenure, Chapman allegedly engaged in a number of schemes to defraud the Paycheck Safety Program (PPP) and Financial Harm Catastrophe Mortgage (EIDL) program, in addition to native credit score unions and state applications designed to help these affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Catastrophe aid was meant for individuals in want, not for many who sought to pad their pockets and defraud the federal government,” said U.S. Lawyer Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida. “We’ll proceed to carry anybody accountable who exploits and defrauds monetary establishments and the federal government’s pandemic response.”
“In the present day’s fees spotlight our unwavering dedication to defending the integrity of SBA applications,” mentioned SBA OIG’s Japanese Area Particular Agent in Cost Amaleka McCall-Braithwaite. “Exploiting aid efforts for private achieve undermines public belief and deprives official companies of important help.”
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Fraudulent loans
On February 10, 2021, whereas employed by the SBA, Chapman allegedly submitted a fraudulent mortgage utility within the identify of Upscale Credit score Lounge to Lender 3. She supplied a faux 2020 Schedule C kind reporting gross revenues of $103,674 and a tentative revenue of $81,860. Based mostly on this info, Lender 3 authorized a mortgage of $17,052.50. Additional investigation revealed the Schedule C kind was false.
On February 19, 2021, Chapman allegedly submitted one other PPP mortgage utility to Lender 3 on behalf of DA TRAP, claiming she had 4 workers and a median month-to-month payroll of $14,191. She supported her utility with false IRS Employers Quarterly Tax Return kinds. Lender 3 authorized a mortgage of $35,477.50. The IRS kinds had been later discovered to be fraudulent.
Chapman additionally conspired with others to submit false PPP mortgage functions. In a associated case (No. 24-CR-20079), six defendants had been charged, with Raisha Kelly recognized because the ringleader. Chapman allegedly aided this conspiracy by creating false IRS paperwork for Kelly, who then used them to submit fraudulent PPP mortgage functions.
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Along with PPP fraud, Chapman is charged with defrauding the State of Florida and the Metropolis of Miami’s COVID-19 Emergency Rental Help Packages.
On October 13, 2021, she utilized for advantages underneath the state’s Emergency Rental Help program, claiming to be a tenant in Miami. Chapman submitted fraudulent paperwork, together with a “3-day discover to pay lease or give up” purportedly signed by her deceased mom. The State of Florida authorized $15,000 in funds, which had been deposited into accounts managed by Chapman.
The fees had been introduced by U.S. Lawyer Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida; Particular Agent in Cost Jonathan Ulrich, U.S. Postal Service Workplace of Inspector Basic (USPS OIG); Particular Agent in Cost Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, U.S. Small Enterprise Administration Workplace of Inspector Basic (SBA OIG), Investigations Division’s Japanese Area; and Particular Agent in Cost Mathew Broadhurst of the U.S. Division of Labor Workplace of Inspector Basic (DOL-OIG), Southeast Area.
