Joshua Pennington, Money Laundering, Kentucky 2024

LONDON, Ky. – A London man, Joshua Pennington, 51, was sentenced to 22 months in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering of fraudulently obtained Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Paycheck Protection Program loans.

According to Joshua Pennington’s plea agreement, his co-defendant, Nicole Pennington, made materially false statements on applications for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans made available to qualified applicants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six of the loan applications were approved for a total of $1,090,398.35 in fraudulently obtained SBA loan proceeds.

Between May 2020 and June 10, 2021, Joshua Pennington and his co-defendant knowingly laundered over $1,000,000 in criminally derived funds, via transactions over $10,000. They used the money to renovate their kitchen, pay for plastic surgery, purchase a Viking River Cruise trip, withdraw cash, purchase vehicles, and pay off loans and mortgages.

Joshua Pennington‘s co-defendant, Nicole Pennington, is scheduled for sentencing on January 27, 2026.

Under federal law, Joshua Pennington must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for two years.

The investigation was conducted by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the IRS-CI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittany Dunn-Pirio is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

The sentencing is a result of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, established by the Attorney General on May 17, 2021. The task force aims to marshal the resources of the government to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.

If you have information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you 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.

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