Clinton J. Johnson U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma
A former Oklahoma resident with business connections in Florida has been sentenced for bank fraud related to the misuse of CARES Act funds. Shawn Ray Murnan, 57, from Windemere, Florida, received a sentence of 33 months in prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill to pay restitution amounting to $1,641,796.47 to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
"In 2020, the CARES Act funding was established to provide emergency financial assistance to help businesses that were disrupted," stated U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. "Investigators and prosecutors are committed to finding those like Murnan who steal government funding and prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law."
Murnan admitted that between April 2020 and October 2021, he falsified several CARES Act applications submitted to the SBA. As an owner of multiple business ventures across Oklahoma, Florida, and other states, he filed 14 applications on behalf of his companies including Blujett, LLC based in Broken Arrow. These applications falsely claimed employee numbers and payroll expenses. Murnan sought over two million dollars and successfully acquired $1,641,796.47 through seven Paycheck Protection Program loans and two Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
Following today's sentencing hearing where he was taken into custody, Murnan will remain detained until transferred to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; the Office of Inspector General for the Small Business Administration; and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Whipple prosecuted this case.
The Fraud Section is responsible for leading prosecutions related to schemes exploiting the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Since its inception under the CARES Act, over 150 defendants have been prosecuted in more than 95 criminal cases with more than $75 million seized from fraudulently obtained PPP funds along with real estate properties and luxury items purchased using these proceeds.
Further details can be accessed at Justice.gov/OPA/pr/justice-department-takes-action-against-covid-19-fraud.
