A couple from North Texas has been charged with defrauding over $684,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Chisanga Mable Scott, 43, and Patrick Kasong Muyej, 48, were indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced Chad E. Meacham, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Scott was also charged with one count of falsely using a passport. Muyej was also charged with one count of theft of government funds, as well as eight counts of money laundering.
The pair allegedly submitted fraudulent applications for $1.85 million in PPP loans on behalf of businesses that did not qualify for the loans. They allegedly falsified the business’s number of employees and the monthly payroll. They are also accused of using the same bank statement in support of multiple loan applications, doctoring the name of the account holder on each one to match the name of the PPP loan applicant.
The two received a total of $684,158.33 in PPP loans. Muyej allegedly laundered the money.
Muyej also allegedly obtained unemployment benefits fraudulently in the state of Nevada in August 2020.
The investigation was conducted by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and the Dallas Field Office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Basu, according to the Department of Justice.
If convicted, Muyej and Scott face up to 20 years in federal prison on the count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Muyej also faces up to 20 years in prison on each count of money laundering plus up to 10 years for the count of theft of government funds. Scott faces up to 10 years on the count of false use of a passport.
The PPP was made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, established in March 2020. The Act was created to help Americans who faced financial hardship from the pandemic, the press release explains. The PPP loans were provided for small businesses to help with certain expenses and were forgivable.
