Federal prosecutors have charged, obtained guilty pleas from, and sentenced six people over about $8.2 million in alleged COVID-era loan losses.
The Michigan cases form part of a two-month national surge that reached more than 160 defendants and roughly $245 million in intended taxpayer harm, says the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Peter Valente and Angela Toma allegedly used inactive companies to obtain more than $2.6 million; Toma pleaded guilty, and Valente faces wire fraud and money-laundering counts.
Patrick McNulty and Joseph Gastorf were charged over 18 fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans exceeding $2.7 million.
Tauheed Wilder was sentenced to 72 months for about $1.96 million in unemployment and PPP fraud using stolen identities.
Karl Fultz pleaded guilty after allegedly inflating payroll at Wheel Effects to obtain an $866,688 PPP loan.
Says Attorney General Todd Blanche,
“Pandemic loan relief was meant to keep American small businesses alive during government lockdowns—not line the pockets of fraudsters.”
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler described the sweep as the largest-ever SBA fraud action, with 870,000 suspended borrowers tied to $39 billion in suspected PPP and COVID EIDL activity.
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