⏱ 2 min read
A brazen $1.1 million wire fraud scheme unraveled in South Carolina, with five suspects, including a state prisoner, accused of swindling taxpayers out of COVID-19 relief funds meant for struggling businesses.
Joshua Maiden, a 42-year-old inmate at the South Carolina Department of Corrections, allegedly claimed to own a lucrative landscaping business – a fabrication that landed him a share of the illicit loot. Maiden, along with Julie Connelly, Crystal Adams, Jillian Brooks, and Tessa Hess, applied for numerous PPP loans, submitting fake documents and false revenue statements to secure the funds.
The scheme, which took place from January to December 2021, targeted the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program, netting the defendants $1,182,832 in fraudulent loans. Hess even went so far as to possess equipment used to create identification documents, attempting to destroy it when the FBI came knocking.
Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment per count of conviction. Their arraignment is set for May 5 before the Honorable Thomas E. Rogers, III.
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📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Defendant: south carolina
- Location: SC
- Source: DOJ Press Release
