MPD Cop, Accountant Plead Guilty to COVID Loan Scam

A pair of brazen crooks, a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer and a Maryland accountant, have pleaded guilty to swindling over $95,000 in COVID emergency loans.

Owen M. Grigsby, 44, of Waldorf, Maryland, and Himmeh Kuawogai, 46, of Ellicott City, Maryland, copped to the scheme in a U.S. District Court hearing. Grigsby, a patrol officer with the MPD, is currently on administrative leave with pay. Kuawogai is an accountant and owner of HAK Accounting Services.

The pair were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a potential penalty of five years in prison. Their sentencing is set for September 10, 2024, before The Honorable Randolph D. Moss.

According to court documents, Kuawogai helped Grigsby establish Owen Grigsby Associates (OAG) in Maryland in July 2020. Grigsby, employed by the MPD at the time, failed to report the outside business venture to his department, as required by MPD policies. OGA allegedly had no legitimate purpose and was created solely to obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

Grigsby filed an EIDL application on behalf of OGA in October 2020, containing materially false statements to the Small Business Administration (SBA). He was approved for the loan and fraudulently obtained $53,600. He applied for the loan despite never intending to use the funds for a legitimate business purpose. In April 2021, Grigsby submitted two PPP loan applications on behalf of OGA, containing materially false statements to Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC (HSBF). He was approved for both loans and received $41,666.

Kuawogai assisted Grigsby in the scheme by providing him with amended and fake documents and explaining the loan application process to him via messaging applications, the phone, and email. The FBI’s Washington Field Office, the Metropolitan Police Department, Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia investigated the case.