Sharmaine Simpson, $1M COVID-19 Relief Fraud, Georgia 2023

ALBANY, Ga. – Sharmaine Simpson, 37, of Pelham, Georgia, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a $1 million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. Simpson was one of six defendants convicted of submitting false loan applications to the Small Business Administration (SBA) in an attempt to obtain pandemic relief funds.

According to court documents, Simpson and his co-defendants submitted at least 25 different fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans on behalf of companies they controlled individually or together, seeking a total of $1,079,233.02 plus unemployment benefits. In all, the defendants received and deposited $411,657.02 from the SBA as a result of these falsified claims.

The scheme involved the creation of fake companies and false financial information, including fabricated revenues, employees, payroll costs, rent, operational expenditures, and fraudulent tax returns. The defendants continued to make false statements even after several loans were denied due to fraud alerts.

One example of the scheme was a $100,000 loan received for J.T.L.S. Music Group, a company listed as 25% owned by Simpson, Jeremy Russell, Travon Duhart, Johnderrious Lovett, and Mario Meadows. The loan application claimed to have ten employees, but the Georgia Department of Labor reported that the company did not pay any wages or unemployment insurance to any employees from 2017 to 2022.

Simpson’s co-defendants, Jeremy Russell, 38, of Pelham, Georgia, received a 30-month prison sentence; Travon Duhart, 40, of Montgomery, Alabama, received a 24-month prison sentence; Mario Meadows, 46, of Albany, Georgia, received a 24-month prison sentence; and Johnderrious Lovett, 31, of Dacula, Georgia, received a 12-month and one day prison sentence.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted by Congress in March 2020 to provide emergency financial support to small businesses affected by the pandemic. The scheme abused this program, diverting funds from legitimate businesses to the defendants’ own pockets.

“Pandemic relief funds were intended to provide critical help to small businesses, not enrich fraudsters,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “We will pursue justice against those who criminally abused this taxpayer-funded program.”

“So many businesses needed federal emergency assistance to stay afloat during the pandemic, and Simpson and his co-defendants misdirected that assistance money to line their own pockets,” said Rich Bilson, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent of FBI Atlanta’s Albany office. “Their greed affects every American taxpayer, and the FBI will continue to hold accountable those who abused taxpayer dollars and diverted them from citizens who desperately needed them.”

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