Texas woman charged in $1.2M PPP loan program fraud

Annette Bryant, 63, was indicted last Tuesday on one count of wire fraud, eight counts of making false statements to a bank, and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity. She made her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Toliver on Monday.

According to the indictment, Ms. Bryant -- the sole owner and operator of a number of limited liability companies, including Processing Services, Inspirational Tax Services LLC, Neighborhood TX Inspections LLC, JJ&JJ Remodeling and Roofing LLC, and JAM Business and Tax Services -- fraudulently applied for and obtained six Paycheck Protection Program (https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program) (PPP) loans totaling $848,586 and four Economic Injury Disaster Loan (https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/eidl) (EDIL) Program loans totaling $359,500. She also allegedly attempted to obtain two additional PPP loans worth $411,160 that were never funded.

The indictment alleges that Ms. Bryant included false statements in PPP loan applications submitted to financial institutions administering PPP, including InterBank, Comerica, Regions Bank, and others. She allegedly inflated her businesses' employee counts, inflated their payroll, and even lied about the number of businesses she owned. She also allegedly included false statements in EIDL loan applications submitted to the Small Business Administration, misrepresenting her businesses' gross revenues.

Ms. Bryant allegedly went so far as to send the financial institutions tax documents she claimed were submitted to the IRS but which were never actually filed. These sham forms, including IRS Form 1040 (https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040x) (Individual Income Tax Return), IRS Form 940 (https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-940) (Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return), and IRS Form 941 (https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-941) (Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return) allegedly contained false information about her businesses and about her personal income.

An indictment is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Ms. Bryant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted, she faces up to 30 years in federal prison on each count of making a false statement to a bank, 20 years on the count of wire fraud, and 10 years on count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity. Upon conviction, she will be required to forfeit the financial proceeds of the scheme or property traceable to it.

The U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Dallas Field Office of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), and the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marty Basu and Fabio Leonardi are prosecuting the case.

Both the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the expanded Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program were authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/about-the-cares-act), a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PPP provided forgivable loans to small businesses to cover payroll, rent, and other certain expenses; EIDL provided quickly-issued, partially-forgivable loans to small business to cover operational expenses, including accounts payable, as well as payroll, mortgages, and other bills.

Contact:

Erin Dooley Press Officer 214-659-8707 [email protected]

Updated November 11, 2022