RIGHT SPEAK: Slovak Citizen Sentenced to 38 Months for $738K PPP Loan Fraud in Missouri; Mississippi Woman Sentenced for COVID IRS Fraud, and other C-Virus related stories

Slovak Citizen Sentenced to 38 Months for $738K PPP Loan Fraud in Missouri:

A Slovak Republic citizen has been sentenced to 38 months in prison and ordered to repay $738,118 after defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), aimed to support American businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark pronounced the sentence yesterday, addressing the fraudulent activity committed by Mark Ethan Jermain, who previously operated under the name Arsene Millogo.

Jermain's ploy to deceitfully claim PPP loans began on April 26, 2020, and persisted until July 16, 2021. From across the ocean, he managed to swiftly apply for and receive funds ostensibly meant for his fictitious businesses, including Crazyeats LLC and Unimentors LLC. The standoff between legality and illicit gain played out as he transferred ill-gotten monies back to Slovakia, not even bothering to signal false intentions of holding up the struggling businesses the loans intended to protect. According to an announcement by the Justice Department, the first claim was an $80,000 loan application submitted for Crazyeats LLC, a company established in Missouri.

Only weeks later, a second grab bag request was put forth by Jermain, this time in the name of Unimentors LLC, for which he claimed $325,275 on May 13, 2020. Once the initial Unimentors loan was approved, Jermain doubled down, submitting a Second Draw PPP loan application for the same amount on February 5, 2021. These loans, of course, were designed as a lifeline for American businesses as they navigated the uncharted waters of a global health emergency—not for personal enrichment at the expense of others. --->READ MORE HERE

Mississippi woman sentenced for COVID IRS fraud:

A Holly Springs woman was sentenced to 52 months in jail for mail fraud in connection with falsely claimed IRS Employee Retention Tax Credit for others. Lakisha Pearson, 48, was also ordered to repay $15,942,586.77 in restitution.

Pearson, who owns Unity Tax Express, pled guilty to using the internet to file false tax credit claims for numerous persons totaling nearly $47 million and taking kickbacks from those persons. Prosecutors said the IRS mailed Treasury checks totaling $15,942,586.77 in ERC credits to the claimants who thought they were given a government grant and were not aware that Pearson had filed tax returns on their behalf.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES” Act), enacted on March 27, 2020, provided for an IRS Employee Retention Credit (“ERC”) designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll during the pandemic. Subsequent legislation (the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, the American Rescue Plan Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) modified and extended the ERC. --->READ MORE HERE