Woman sentenced for CARES Act Fraud

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - A Greene County woman will spend one year in prison after submitting several fraudulent CARES Act applications.

Court records revealed that 41-year-old Mandy Ellen Bauer of Greensburg filed nine fraudulent applications for various Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act financial assistance programs.

That included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), and advance tax credit payments.

In all, federal officials said it resulted in the attempted theft of more than $230,000.

Bauer filed the applications between April 2020 and July 2020.

Investigators say Bauer exaggerated the gross revenues, number of employees, and payroll of her company - Family Personal Sales.

She was sentenced Tuesday in a federal courtroom in Bowling Green to 12 months and one day in federal prison. She pleaded guilty to the crimes in February.

“I commend the investigative work of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration,” said Michael A. Bennett, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. “Together with our federal law enforcement partners, we will continue to identify, apprehend, and prosecute fraudsters involved in plots to steal federal relief funds.”

All of Bauer’s fraudulent applications were rejected, and she did not receive any funds.

“The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration aggressively pursues those who endeavor to defraud programs afforded to the American people under the CARES Act,” said J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). “We appreciate the efforts of the Department of Justice in this effort.”

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.