A former Emmy-nominated TV news anchor convicted in a billion-dollar COVID fraud scheme sent a scandalous text to her partner in crime that joked about cheating the taxpayers.
Stephanie Hockridge-Reis, who worked for a local station in Phoenix before becoming a fintech entrepreneur, sent the message to her husband, Nathan Reis, after applying for Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans during the height of the pandemic.
“This is us trying to apply for free money — when we don’t quite qualify. lol,” she texted Reis, 47, according to a federal indictment obtained by the Arizona Republic.
The couple was accused of fraudulently obtaining over $300,000 in PPP loans for themselves, including one application that falsely claimed he was a veteran and an African American.
Reis took a plea deal on Monday and will be sentenced in November.
Hockridge-Reis, 42, was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in June by a jury in the Northern District of Texas. She was acquitted on four additional counts of wire fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10.
She faces up to 20 years in prison.
The Post has sought comment from the duo.
The couple’s Scottsdale-based fintech firm, Blueacorn, which the couple co-founded in 2020, processed over $12.5 billion in PPP loans — with somewhere between $250 million and $300 million going to the company’s ownership, including Hockridge-Reis.
Blueacorn received over $1 billion in taxpayer-funded processing fees for facilitating PPP loans but spent less than 1% ($8.6 million) on fraud prevention and only $13.7 million on eligibility verification, according to a congressional investigation. --->READ MORE HERE
Court documents show that both 25-year-old Dravion Griley-Burnside and 22-year-old Kaveon Phillips have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder regarding an incident that happened back in 2021.
Reports reveal that the two suspects were both involved in fatally shooting 26-year-old Ashley Green at Solaire Apartments. Reports indicate that the incident stemmed from disputes over money obtained through COVID-19 loans.
An unidentified third party was allegedly involved in the COVID loan altercation. Prior to Green’s shooting, the third party was at a gas station when he realized he had forgotten his wallet. That’s when he asked 26-year-old Ashley Green for a ride back to his apartment. This third party says Phillips chased him down in a vehicle. Surveillance footage from the incident showed Phillips driving erratically while appearing to chase another car before opening fire and shooting at the third party and Green’s car about nine times.
The shooting left Green fatally injured.
Initially, Phillips and Griley both faced an incredible 52 criminal counts. The duo was charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, discharging a gun into an occupied structure, attempted murder, and more.
In exchange for both suspects’ cooperation and guilty pleas, prosecutors dropped 50 of the 52 charges laid out in the original indictments. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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