GRIMY NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Massachusetts businesswoman Vanessa Nixon has been sentenced to five months in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud pandemic relief funds. The 45-year-old Framingham resident pleaded guilty to bank fraud, falsifying loan applications, and creating fake tax documents to obtain over $468,000 in Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds.
Nixon, who owned Mass Homes Investments LLC, Nixon Homes LTD, and Alpha Auto Body, Inc., submitted fraudulent applications between April 2020 and November 2022. She used her business’s names and forged financial records to inflate income figures and secure the loans. The loans were later forgiven by banks and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who also ordered Nixon to pay $468,832 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Markham prosecuted the case on behalf of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Harry Chavis, Jr. of the IRS’s Criminal Investigation unit; and Inspector Ketty Larco-Ward of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Boston Division announced the sentencing today. The investigation was part of a wider effort by the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to combat pandemic-related fraud.
Established on May 17, 2021, the task force has been instrumental in investigating and prosecuting individuals responsible for COVID-19 fraud. For those with information about such fraud, the Department of Justice encourages reporting through its National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or online via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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