NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Stacey V. Santemore, Sr., a 46-year-old resident of Houston, Texas, was charged on March 3, 2022 in a two-count bill of information with making false statements and theft of government funds related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
The CARES Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, to provide emergency financial assistance in connection with economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the PPP.
According to the charging documents, Stacey V. Santemore, Sr., in July 2020, made false statements to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining pandemic-related relief loans funded by the federal government, including PPP funds, which he received in the amount of approximately $89,000.
Santemore also applied for Louisiana unemployment benefits through the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) with PUA funding despite at all times being fully employed by Amtrak, the national passenger railcar company. He obtained more than $1,000 from April 2020 through March 2021, and this amounts to a theft of government funds.
Santemore faces a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to $250,000 in fines, and up to three years of supervised release for the false statements count. He faces up to ten years in prison, up to $250,000 in fines, and up to three years of supervised release for the theft count. There is also a $100 mandatory special assessment fee due after conviction.
U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that a bill of information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.
For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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