CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A federal grand jury in Charlotte has indicted three individuals for conspiring to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which oversees Charlotte, and Mark H. Morini, Special Agent in Charge of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Southeast Field Division, join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.
According to allegations in the federal indictment, between March and November 2021, Tamakia Elizabeth Harris, 43, Shavondra Michelle White, 39, and Cedric Lee Benton, 47, all of Charlotte, conspired with each other to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds, by submitting fraudulent PPP loan applications to financial servicing companies outside North Carolina. The indictment alleges that the PPP loan applications contained false and misleading information and fraudulent supporting documentation, including fake federal tax filings and payroll reports.
As alleged in the indictment, Harris, who was employed by a nationally chartered bank in Charlotte, generally charged fees between $2,000 and $5,000 for her assistance in filing false and fraudulent PPP loans. Harris allegedly created…