Sniders Jean-Jacques, Wire Fraud, Massachusetts 2021

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Boston Residents Caught in $7 Million PPP Fraud Scheme

BOSTON – In a brazen scheme to swindle millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds, four individuals, including one from Boston, have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The defendants, Sniders Jean-Jacques, 38, of Miami, Lorne Johnson, 38, of Boston, Tanya Pierre, 28, of Miami, and Ashley Spike, 31, of Miramar, Florida, allegedly submitted fraudulent PPP applications on behalf of borrowers and collected up to 30 percent of the loan proceeds as a fee for securing the loans.

According to the charging documents, Jean-Jacques, Johnson, Pierre, and Spike recruited borrowers who were ineligible for PPP loans, claimed the borrowers operated businesses that qualified them for loans, and created fake tax forms to backstop the borrowers’ fraudulent applications. As a result, the defendants and others allegedly obtained approximately $7 million in PPP funds to which they and the borrowers were not entitled.

The indictment also alleges that the borrowers who received PPP funds based on these fraudulent applications paid kickbacks to Jean-Jacques, Johnson, Pierre, Spike, and others, commonly in an amount equal to 30 percent of the loan proceeds. Jean-Jacques and Pierre were also charged in a separate indictment with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud related to a scheme to obtain mortgage loans and apartment leases.

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, along with federal agents from the Internal Revenue Service, Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Secret Service, announced the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Kearney will prosecute the case.

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme, whichever is greater.

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