Zipora Hudson, Montreal Hudson, CARES Act Fraud, Mississippi 2025

OXFORD, MS – In a shocking turn of events, a mother and son duo from Olive Branch, Mississippi, were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering following a federal jury trial that concluded on January 15, 2025. Zipora Hudson and Montreal Hudson, both of Olive Branch, Mississippi, were found guilty of their crimes, which were uncovered during a federal investigation.

According to court documents, the duo, along with Deandre Jones, utilized Zippy Bee, LLC tax preparation business in Charleston, MS, to create and file hundreds of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications on behalf of borrowers that were not eligible to receive the loans. The defendants created fraudulent Schedule C tax documents to claim gross income amounts that far exceeded the real income for a particular business or claimed gross income amounts for businesses that never existed.

The Paycheck Protection Program was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide funding for small businesses affected by the economic downturn associated with the Coronavirus Pandemic. The defendants used the illegally obtained money to purchase luxury vehicles and real estate, among other things.

“Zipora Hudson, Montreal Hudson, and Deandre Jones stole millions of dollars from American taxpayers while taking advantage of programs designed to help keep businesses afloat during a national crisis,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring those who committed pandemic benefit fraud to justice and will use all available tools to recover the stolen monies.”

The maximum penalty for the wire fraud conspiracy is 30 years in prison, and the maximum penalty for the money laundering conspiracy is 20 years in prison. Sentencing for Zipora Hudson and Montreal Hudson is set for April 24, 2025.

The scheme in the instant case was initially uncovered during the course of a civil investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Leary and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Wright prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division along with investigators from the United States Attorney’s Office.

The defendants required the borrowers to pay them a kickback out of the proceeds of each loan, ranging from $19,000 to $20,833 per loan. The total amount of money stolen from the government is still unknown.

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