Bria Peters, CARES Act Fraud, Louisiana 2024

NEW ORLEANS – A Texas resident has been sentenced to 5 years probation for her role in a CARES Act fraud scheme. Bria Peters, 28, a resident of Houston, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle on January 17, 2024, after previously pleading guilty to making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

Peters made false statements to an approved lender on or about May 27, 2021, for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. The PPP, established under the CARES Act, provides forgivable loans to small businesses to retain workers and maintain payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peters later received a PPP loan totaling approximately $29,166.00.

Peters stated in her PPP application that in 2020, she owned a clothing business impacted by the pandemic when, in truth, she had no such business. This false claim was made in an effort to obtain the loan. The PPP allows the interest and principal on the loan to be forgiven if the business spends the loan proceeds on certain expense items within a designated period of time after receiving the proceeds and uses at least a certain percentage of the PPP loan proceeds on payroll expenses.

In addition to 5 years probation, Peters was ordered to pay $55,141 in restitution and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Amtrak Office of Inspector General – Criminal Investigations, in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera of the Financial Crimes Unit was in charge of the prosecution.

The CARES Act was established on March 27, 2020, to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The act provided for the expansion of several programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program, which allowed small businesses to obtain forgivable loans to retain workers and maintain payroll.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

For more information on the government’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Related Federal Cases