A group of individuals from Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and Washington, numbering close to twelve, has been accused of participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program, leading to charges announced by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Western Missouri on Thursday, February 22.
The indictment reveals that these 11 defendants played various roles in the scheme, resulting in over $220,000 in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans.
- According to court documents, a federal grand jury in Kansas City delivered a 13-count indictment under secret on February 6th, charging the following people:
- 32-year-old Daisha Sanders, a Royse, Texas resident originally from Blue Springs, Missouri
- Joel Wright, 34, is a Royse, Texas resident who was born in Blue Springs, Missouri.
- Texas resident Denise Sanders, 60
- Alfred Hayes IV, 29, of Overland Park, Kansas
- Shaquille Fielder, 31, of Kansas City, Missouri;
- Jordan Nichols, 30, of North Kansas City, Missouri;
- Karen Crowe, 33, of Grandview, Missouri.
- Rahonda Golden, 34, of Tacoma, Washington,
- Luana McNurlin, 36, of St. Louis, Mo.,
- 38-year-old Roxanne Nazir of Arlington, Texas
- Texas resident Jeffrey Chillis, 30, is from Corpus Christi.
According to court records, the indictment became public last Thursday after the arrests of nine individuals: Crowe, Hayes, McNurlin, Fielder, both Sanders women, Wright, Nazir, and Chillis. Half of them had their initial court appearance on Thursday, while the other half are scheduled for Friday.
The indictment accuses each defendant of participating in a conspiracy to submit fraudulent applications for PPP loans between February 2021 and July 2022. The alleged scheme resulted in over $220,000 in fraudulent loans issued to ineligible borrowers, most of which were forgiven despite not being used for PPP-specific purposes.
As per the indictment, Daisha Sanders created loan applications for herself and her co-conspirators, receiving payment from the loan proceeds.
The applications falsely claimed sole proprietorship pre-pandemic or inflated revenues for businesses that existed in 2019. To support the applications, Sanders fabricated bank records, IRS forms, and other false financial documents.
Court records reveal that Daisha submitted the applications, and once the loans were funded, co-conspirators paid her up to $5,000 for creating and submitting the false loan application.
Apart from the wire fraud conspiracy, Sanders faces a wire fraud charge, while the remaining defendants are charged with aiding and abetting. Each defendant allegedly applied for a PPP loan of approximately $20,833.
Sanders is also charged with an additional count of money laundering. The indictment includes forfeiture allegations, seeking the forfeiture of any proceeds derived from the alleged offense, including a money judgment of $70,832.
