A former TV news anchor and her husband have been indicted by the US Justice Department for allegedly scheming to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief money – a crime that could land them both behind bars for decades if convicted.
Stephanie Hockridge-Reis, 41, and Nathan Reis, 45, are alleged to have submitted false and fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the federal government for themselves and their businesses even though they were not eligible.
Hockridge-Reis, a former news anchor for ABC15-TV in Phoenix, and her husband co-founded Blueacorn, a lender service provider that was purportedly founded to help small businesses and individuals obtain COVID-19 relief funds.
According to federal prosecutors, Hockridge-Reis and Reis fabricated documents such as payroll records, tax documentation and bank statements in order to obtain the loans.
The Justice Department alleged that the couple charged clients illegal fees for their services based on a percentage of the funds received.
The two are also alleged to have recruited people to work as referral agents who then coached borrowers on how to submit false PPP loan applications.
“In order to obtain a greater volume of kickbacks from borrowers and percentage of lender fees from the [Small Business Administration], Reis, Hockridge, and their co-conspirators submitted PPP loan applications that they knew contained materially false information,” according to the Justice Department.
The DOJ’s complaint doesn’t cite a total dollar figure for the fraud allegedly perpetrated by the couple. --->READ MORE HERE
Stephanie Hockridge, a former anchor at ABC 15 in Phoenix, and her husband Nathan Reis, are accused of submitting false and fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
The couple took out loans for themselves, then showed others how easy it was to get taxpayer cash in a scheme worth hundreds of millions of dollars set against the backdrop of global pandemic relief.
"Criminals and criminal organizations took advantage of Americans suffering during this crisis and committed substantial fraud against these critical pandemic relief programs," said Rep. Jim Clyburn during the 2022 Coronavirus Committee hearings.
Among the alleged criminals were Hockridge and her husband.
During a federal hearing, numbers reaching into the billions are discussed.
"I think it was 57,000 applications in PPP were for applicants who were on the Do Not Pay list, involving several billions of dollars," said Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz at the height of the pandemic.
Hockridge and Reis are accused of attempting to directly charge some applicants a 10% fee for successfully getting a loan, a violation of the Small Business Administration rules.
A review of the loans showed what the couple were willing to do for the money, including Reis claiming in an application he was African American and a veteran. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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