The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program of the Small Business Administration says that two brothers from Palm Beach County and Miramar got millions of dollars in loans and advances from the COVID-19 pandemic assistance program.
The U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday that the federal charge against Patrick Charles, 41, of west of Lake Worth Beach, and Carl Charles, 43, of Miramar, was made public.
The indictment says that from March 2020 to December 2021, the brothers and their accomplices applied to the SBA for nearly $5 million in EIDL loans by making false claims about the businesses’ income, start dates, and number of workers.
The SBA gave the accused and other people more than $2.5 million in loan money and advances.
Patrick Charles is charged with three counts of wire fraud, and Carl Charles is charged with four counts of wire fraud. If they are found guilty, each count could get them up to 20 years in jail.
The case was looked into by the FBI field office in Miami, the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the SBA-Office of Inspector General.
In May 2021, the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force was put together.
If you know anything about scam claims involving COVID-19, you can call the National Center for Disaster scam Hotline or fill out the NCDF Web Complaint Form at justice.gov.
