Jeannine Buford, Pandemic Fraud, Missouri 2020

A St. Louis woman has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for her role in a $291,000 pandemic relief scam.

Jeannine Buford, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday for conspiring to defraud a COVID-19 pandemic relief program.

Buford and her accomplice, Porshia L. Thomas, 33, submitted a fraudulent PPP loan application for Couture Trading Inc. in July 2020. They claimed the company was an operating business located in California, had 15 employees, and an average monthly payroll of $120,000.

However, the application was riddled with lies. Buford and Thomas falsely claimed the loan would be used for salaries and business expenses and submitted fake company bank records. The bank issued a $291,000 PPP loan on September 8, 2020.

Thomas wired $10,000 to Buford and wrote her a $65,000 check. Buford then spent the money on personal expenses, including food, clothes, a $14,000 deposit on a 2017 BMW X6, a $5,000 couch, and other furniture. She even rented a luxury apartment in downtown St. Louis for $1,855 per month.

The bank eventually recovered $206,000 of the loan money. Buford's crime was motivated purely by greed, according to a sentencing memo filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek J. Wiseman. Buford has a history of persistent fraud, with six felony fraud convictions dating back to 1999.

Buford pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud conspiracy. Thomas, who has been sentenced to five years of probation, pleaded guilty to a bank fraud charge. Both were ordered to repay the money.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek J. Wiseman is prosecuting the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/st-louis-woman-sentenced-24-months-prison-aiding-291000-pandemic-fraud