HOUSTON – A 27-year-old woman has been sentenced to prison time for filing over $500,000 in fraudulent disaster relief loans, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Khalia Douglas pleaded guilty on June 13, 2024, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett has now ordered Douglas to serve 24 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. She must also pay $318,361.11 in restitution.
The court heard additional evidence that described her criminal history and how her fraudulent scheme lasted 15 months. The court also heard how Douglas submitted applications for approximately 100 different individuals, and that without her, they would not have been possible. In handing down the sentence, the court noted her fraudulent scheme took advantage of programs that were designed to help those in need during a troubling time for the entire country.
From March 2020 until June 2021, Douglas conspired with others to submit false and fraudulent applications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Small Business Administration (SBA), the U.S. government and a bank for financial assistance.
At the time of her plea, Douglas admitting to using her Instagram account ‘GoGettaKaee’ to post multiple stories advertising her involvement in filing fraudulent SBA COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications. Such posts include ‘SBA is back open. $350 for method. Yes im doing applications $100 upfront & $2k when your money hit. You’ll need a real bank account.’
Douglas accepted payment for her services via CashApp where her clients would make payments to her and send a screenshot of the completed payment as proof. She also submitted false EIDL applications for herself and false Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications for another.
Further investigation revealed Douglas filed eight FEMA disaster assistance applications related to Hurricane Laura. Additionally, Douglas committed several other fraudulent acts like filing false unemployment benefits in Kansas, using another person’s name to rent her apartment and using another person’s bank account to deposit counterfeit checks.
Authorities discovered her phone and computer contained a multitude of various documents and discussions of fraud in text messages, emails relating to fraudulent applications, false tax documents, images of counterfeit government identification documents and more.
Due to her actions, the EIDL, PPP and the bank lost a total of $318,361.11 with an attempted loss amount of $514,415. Douglas received approximately $23,775 for her services.
She was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security-Office of Inspector General, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rodolfo Ramirez and Elizabeth Wyman prosecuting the case.
Related Federal Cases
- Shannon Tecoko Mays, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Texas, 2012 · Texas
- Sonja Martinez, Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Texas 2024 · Florida
- Nancy Chan, Marriage Fraud Conspiracy, Texas 2024 · Texas
- Andrew Ian Farmer, Securities Fraud Conspiracy, Texas 2016 · Alabama
- Bilal Ahmed Khaleeq, Marriage Fraud Conspiracy, Texas 2024 · Texas
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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