Four defendants charged in multi-million dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme
The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s in South Carolina has charged four people in a fraud scheme connected to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act’s Paycheck Protection Program, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The four are Jacob Liticker, 25, from Houston, Texas; Kehinde Mubarak Ladepo, 26, an enlisted member of the U.S. Air Force stationed at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter; Ganiyu Victor Ladepo, 29, from Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Maxwell Uzoma Okobi, 24, a resident of North Carolina currently deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, according to the release.
The indictment alleges that the four were part of a national scheme that attempted to fraudulently obtain $2 million in PPP loans, according to the release. About $1 million was fraudulently obtained.
PPP loans were administered by the Small Business Administration as forgivable loans for small businesses for job retention and other expenses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liticker created fake PPP loan applications for nearly 100 people across the country, according to the indictment, often for amounts up to $20,000. Liticker assisted with submitting fake information and tax documentation in exchange for a cut of the PPP loan money received, according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges Liticker assisted with getting these loans forgiven.
“PPP loans were finite funds designed to help businesses stay afloat amid unprecedented times and extraordinary challenges. Every dollar wrongly taken from this taxpayer-funded program was a dollar that could not go to a legitimate business in need,” U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs said.
The four defendants face maximum punishments of up to 20 years in prison, fines and restitution.
