⏱ 2 min read
A brazen COVID-19 cash scam unraveled in Robeson County, North Carolina, with a 46-year-old woman getting 10 months in the slammer. Erica McMillian, a mother of two, was part of a family operation that bilked the Small Business Administration out of $542,288 in fake loans.
McMillian’s husband, Ricky, a 50-year-old former deputy with the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, and their two sons, Dwayne, 29, and Derian, 27, were also convicted in the scheme.
Prosecutors say McMillian submitted a false application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, claiming her non-existent business had 10 employees and $150,000 in annual revenue.
The loan was approved, and the cash was wired into McMillian’s personal account. But McMillian’s luck ran out when authorities caught onto the scam.
U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle vowed to keep cracking down on COVID-19 loan fraud, saying, ‘Cheaters never win.’
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📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Defendant: North Carolina
- Location: NC
- Source: DOJ Press Release
