A federal grand jury in Charlotte has indicted Tiawana Brown, 53, along with her daughters Tijema Brown, 30, and Antionette Rouse, 33. The three Charlotte residents face charges of wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud for allegedly submitting fraudulent applications to obtain COVID pandemic relief funds. This announcement was made by Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
James C. Barnacle, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina, joined U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making the announcement.
The indictment alleges that between April 2020 and September 2021, the defendants conspired to defraud the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). They are accused of filing loan applications containing false information or documentation for their purported businesses. Allegedly included were fake tax forms among other misrepresentations. It is further alleged that they submitted false statements to obtain forgiveness of PPP loans. In total, at least 15 applications were submitted resulting in $124,165 being falsely obtained.
The indictment claims that funds from EIDL and PPP were deposited into bank accounts controlled by the defendants and used for personal expenses rather than qualifying business expenses as claimed in loan applications. Among these personal expenses was approximately $15,000 spent on a birthday party for Tiawana Brown.
If convicted on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years per offense charged in the indictment. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson commended the FBI's work on this investigation during his announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Warren from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuting this case.
Since the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act began enforcement actions against COVID-related frauds have led to prosecutions against 35 defendants by the U.S Attorney’s Office; efforts include monetary judgments collection through criminal restitution among others—resulting thus far nearly $18 million judgments/settlements collected over $5 million assets recovery within Western District cases alone
Reports about attempted COVID-19 related fraud can be submitted via Department Justice National Center Disaster Fraud NCDF Web Complaint Form found online at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form
