Four people from the Lowcountry area have plead guilty to obtaining nearly $5 million in fraudulent PPP loans, according to the U.S. Attorney General.
Lori Hammond, 53 of Summerville, Catherine (“Cassie”) Needham, 36, of Manning, Jontrell Wright, 35, of Holly Hill, and Christopher Conrad, 39, of Holly Hill, all plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud, in connection with their roles in fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in PPP loans.
The attorney general's office said evidence showed to the court revealed that between roughly June 2020 to January 2021, Hammond caused multiple materially fraudulent PPP loan applications to be submitted to federally-insured financial institutions on behalf of herself and the other suspects.
In the applications, Hammond used the identity of a deceased individual, misrepresented the number of employees and payroll expenses of entities seeking the loans, attached fraudulent tax documents and made numerous other false and misleading statements.
According to the attorney general's office, Hammond assisted Needham, Conrad, and Wright by filling the application documents and submitting them to an individual in California. That person would then submit the fraudulent applications to financial institutions in exchange for a free.
The approved PPP lenders funded the loans based on the fraudulent representations in them. The suspects reportedly used the funds for homes, property, cars and other personal purchases which were non-qualifying and non-business-related.
The four members of the conspiracy fraudulently obtained $4,721,638.50 in PPP loan funds total.
They all face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, restitution, and three years of supervision following imprisonment.
United States District Judge David C. Norton is the presiding judge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Limehouse is prosecuting the case; it was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.