ST. LOUIS – In a stunning revelation from the federal courts, Preston Randall, 59, of St. Louis County, Missouri, has been hit with a mountain of charges totaling $620,000 in alleged pandemic loan fraud and disability payments deception.
The U.S. District Court in St. Louis indicted Randall on May 15, leveling 13 felony counts against him: five for wire fraud, five for aggravated identity theft, two for theft of government property, and one for concealing information from the Social Security Administration.
According to court documents, Randall applied for Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program funds meant to assist struggling business owners during the COVID-19 crisis. He is accused of filing five fraudulent loan applications over a month-long period in 2020 using different company names and other people’s identities. The false applications led to $620,000 being funneled into accounts he controlled.
The indictment further alleges that Randall fraudulently obtained $17,906 in Social Security Administration disability benefits by hiding his receipt of the EIDL money and other resources between March 2021 and October 2023.
Upon his arrest on Wednesday, Randall entered a not guilty plea before the court. Charges are accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke handling the prosecution. The public is reminded that anyone with information on pandemic-related fraud can report it to the Department of Justice’s 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: Missouri
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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