ALEXANDRIA, VA – Sherman Green Jr., 34, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, admitting to a brazen scheme to steal over $339,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds. The con man used the money to pad his pockets, buying personal luxuries while businesses genuinely struggled during the pandemic.
According to court documents, Green incorporated Green Information Solutions LLC (“GIS”) back in September 2017, setting up the shell company as a vehicle for his future fraud. In May 2020, when the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – intended to keep businesses afloat – was launched, Green saw an opportunity. He teamed up with a co-conspirator and, with the help of a compromised senior bank officer at Atlantic Union Bank, submitted a fraudulent loan application on behalf of GIS.
The application was a house of cards. Green falsely claimed GIS employed seven people and had a monthly payroll of $78,215.41. Atlantic Union Bank bought the lie, awarding GIS a first-draw PPP loan of $195,500. The money landed in GIS’s account on May 11, 2020, and Green immediately started diverting it. He purchased cashier’s checks and deposited them into another account, falsely labeling some as “payroll” despite GIS having no actual employees or legitimate expenses. Over the next ten months, he siphoned off $81,131.60 into his personal accounts.
Not content with the first haul, Green and his accomplice doubled down. In March 2021, they submitted a second-draw PPP loan application, again riddled with lies. This time, they claimed GIS had five employees and $1,000,500 in gross receipts in 2019, and $700,000 in 2020. Atlantic Union Bank, once again misled, approved a second loan of $143,715. Green established payroll and expense accounts at Atlantic Union Bank and transferred the funds, continuing his pattern of personal enrichment, including payments to Ford Motor Credit.
To cover his tracks, Green fabricated a Quickbooks account, manipulating records to make the transfers *appear* as legitimate payroll expenses. Between June 15 and July 15, 2021, he made seven such fraudulent transactions, knowingly dealing with criminally-derived property. The scheme was elaborate, but ultimately unravelled, exposing Green’s greed.
Sherman Green Jr. is scheduled to be sentenced on September 3 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. While the maximum is five years, federal sentencing guidelines and other factors will be considered by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. The investigation was a collaborative effort involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the FBI, AmeriCorp, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine E. Rumbaugh and Heidi B. Gesch are prosecuting the case.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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