A Boston man and three Florida residents have been charged in connection with an alleged multi-state scheme that fraudulently obtained $7 million in COVID-19 relief funds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.
Lorne Johnson, 38, of Boston; Sniders Jean-Jacques, 38, of Miami; Tanya Pierre, 28, of Miami; and Ashley Spike, 31, of Miramar, Florida, have been charged with one count of conspiracy to conduct wire fraud, according to a statement from the office of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley.
Johnson was detained and appeared in federal court in Boston, while Jean-Jacques, Pierre, and Spike appeared in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, respectively, according to Foley. The four are scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
According to court documents, the defendants reportedly filed bogus applications to the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal COVID-19 assistance project intended to assist small businesses in retaining staff during the pandemic.
According to the charge documents, the four and others allegedly recruited non-PPP loan-eligible applicants beginning in March 2021. The gang then allegedly made false claims about the borrowers’ eligible businesses and generated bogus tax filings to support the applications.
The indictment claims that the scam resulted in around $7 million in PPP funding.
According to the prosecution documents, the defendants and others reportedly took kickbacks from borrowers in exchange for securing the money, which were typically around 30% of the loan proceeds.
Jean-Jacques and Pierre were charged in a separate indictment with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in connection with a scheme to get mortgage loans and apartment leases, according to Foley’s office.
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