They exploited the economic crisis.
Photo: Jorge Fuentelsaz / EFE
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Alicia Ayers, a municipal employee and union leader in Mount Vernon (NY), and her daughter Andrea Ayers have been accused of stealing more than $ 1.5 million destined to help companies in difficulty during the pandemic.
A third defendant, Traci Proctor, who lives in Georgia, was also arrested Tuesday. In court documents, prosecutors said the trio sent 300 federal loan applications claiming financial damage disaster, but they were bogus businesses.
Last summer, the defendants allegedly falsely claimed that some companies had at least 10 workers, so the federal government sent about $ 1.7 million to the owners of those businesses, who then paid the suspects. Tuesday’s complaint does not name any of the alleged accomplices.
Sources told News 12 that Ayers is a ordinance officer in Mount Vernon and director of the union branch of the CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association) in that city.
The deputy director of the FBI, William Sweeney, denounced that “While small businesses across the country clamored for the financial support they so badly needed after the first quarter of the pandemic, defendants today allegedly saw the Disaster Economic Damage Loan Program (PPP) from the SBA as nothing more than an opportunity to make a quick profit. “
In October, a federal and municipal investigation into a bribery scheme involving federal loans and employees of Mount Vernon. The city found that 17 workers obtained loans related to COVID.
At the time, no one was fired, in part because the city said it could not determine whether those loans were fraudulent, and that it would be up to the federal government.
According to News 12, prosecutors believe a city employee is the ringleader of the operation. “The question is how many other people could be involved and what potential consequences could they face.”
The trio arrested Tuesday were charged with wire fraud and identity theft, And that could lead to a significant amount of prison time if convicted.
COVID-19 FRAUD ACCUSATIONS: Prosecutors say the suspects applied for 300 applications for federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans, but they were bogus companies.https://t.co/vh1o7ghUAw
— News12HV (@News12HV) March 24, 2021
COVID-19 FRAUD ACCUSATIONS: Prosecutors say the suspects applied for 300 applications for federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans, but they were bogus companies.https://t.co/TzE7IhdVcA
– News12WC (@ News12WC) March 24, 2021
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