CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 25-year-old Charlotte woman is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud for fraudulently obtaining over $100,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, authorities say.
According to filed documents, Yesenia Rodriguez engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) by obtaining an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) based on false information.
As Rodriguez admitted in court on Wednesday, from April 2020 through May 2021, she conspired with another person to obtain COVID-19 relief funds, including two loans under the EIDL program and federally subsidized unemployment benefits totaling over $100,000.
Plea documents show that in July of 2020, Rodriguez electronically submitted a fraudulent EIDL application for an alleged hair and nail salon named Yesenia Rodriguez.
Authorities say Rodriguez, who had recently left her job at a national bank, submitted the application for the purported salon, when in fact Rodriguez did not own a salon and, instead, was collecting unemployment.
As of a result of the falsely filed EIDL application, authorities say Rodriguez received $37,500 in relief funding via electronic financial transactions.
Rodriguez’s co-conspirator also fraudulently obtained EIDL funding totaling $47,500 for a business identified as Company 1, according to a news release.
Authorities say although Company 1 was a real operating business, Rodriguez’s co-conspirator electronically submitted a fraudulent application that contained false representations about its eligibility for EIDL funding, including the date Company 1 was founded.
At the time the EIDL application was submitted for Company 1, the co-conspirator was also fraudulently collecting federally subsidized unemployment benefits from the State of North Carolina, according to a news release.
Authorities say Rodriguez and her co-conspirator fraudulently obtained at least $112,000 in disaster relief fund that were intended for existing businesses and individuals harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rodriguez was released on bond following her plea on Wednesday.
Authorities say the conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine.
A sentencing date has not been set.
