A federal Grand Jury in Nebraska has indicted 11 people on charges they obtained money from pandemic relief programs illegally.
According to U.S. Attorney for Nebraska Jan Sharp, the defendants were arrested Wednesday by federal authorities on charges of Wire Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Money Laundering.
Charged in the indictment are Ramel Thompson, Carl Estwick, Jackie Harper, Tarysh G. Hogue, Richard L. Kelly, Lenfield Kendrick, Henry T. Lewis, Trevor A. McNeil, Michael A. Perkins, Michael A. Perkins, Jr., Shawn Prater. All but McNeil and Kendrick were taken into custody in Omaha. McNeil was arrested by FBI agents in Atlanta, and Kendrick was arrested by FBI agents in Las Vegas.
In a release, Sharp says the defendants illegally received loans and advances of nearly $2.5 million from the Payroll Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Programs through misstatements of employee counts and payroll salaries, and loan proceeds were not used for allowed business-related expenses.
In addition to the arrests, 15 searches resulted in the seizure of $64,000 in cash, $196,000 in seized bank accounts, 7 handguns, and 1 shotgun.
All face penalties of up to 20 years on the wire fraud charges and up to 10 years for money laundering, with a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.
