North Texas woman indicted in $680k COVID relief fraud scheme to fund Cedar Hill home
DALLAS - A federal grand jury has returned a 10-count indictment charging a North Texas woman with defrauding pandemic emergency relief programs out of more than $680,000, federal authorities announced.
North Texas woman indicted
What we know:
April Watson, 50, also known as "April Watson Horton" and "April Shawnette Watson," is charged with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and four counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.
Watson made her initial court appearance on Oct. 23.
The backstory:
According to court documents, Watson engaged in a scheme between April 2020 and October 2021 to fraudulently secure Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) authorized under the CARES Act. Prosecutors allege she submitted fraudulent applications on behalf of several entities she owned and operated, including Exotic Bliss Beauty LLC, Brain Evolution LLC, and Southern Home Ventures LLC.
To support the loan applications, Watson allegedly submitted fabricated payroll summaries and fictitious IRS forms, including W-2 and W-3 documents purportedly prepared by an outside payroll company. Investigators said no payroll forms had been generated by the company and no business tax returns regarding wages or gross revenues were filed with the IRS for those entities for 2019 or 2020.
Based on the fraudulent filings, Watson allegedly secured $210,698 in PPP loans disbursed by Kabbage Inc., $299,800 in EIDL funds directly from the U.S. Small Business Administration, and $169,994 in additional PPP funding from JPMorgan Chase.
Federal prosecutors allege Watson used the illicit proceeds for personal expenses, including transferring more than $114,000 toward the construction of a personal residence in Cedar Hill, Texas, and wiring $40,000 to an associate.
What they're saying:
"Emergency relief programs were enacted as a vital lifeline to keep struggling businesses afloat during the pandemic—not to subsidize private home construction and luxury purchases," U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas said in a statement. "Falsifying tax records and treating emergency small business relief like a personal lottery ticket is a serious federal crime that leaves Main Street Americans shouldering the burden."
Christopher J. Altemus Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Texas Field Office, condemned the alleged fraud, stating that criminals stole money meant to keep honest businesses operational.
What's next:
If convicted, Watson faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count, up to 30 years for each bank fraud count, and up to 10 years for each unlawful monetary transaction count.
The federal government is also seeking forfeiture of a residential property in Cedar Hill, along with a monetary judgment covering the full amount of the fraud proceeds.
The Source: Information in this article is from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas.