A St. Louis man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $629,000 in pandemic relief loans. U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark handed down the sentence on Wednesday and ordered Shahron Vaulx, 41, to repay the full amount.
According to court documents, Vaulx submitted eight fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications between May 2020 and June 2021 using four companies: Fortunnett Financial LLC, SD Incorporation LLC, SV Collections LLC, and SD Marketing LLC. The applications included false information about payroll figures and employee numbers. To support his claims, Vaulx also provided fake tax forms with inflated income and payroll data.
Once the loans were approved, authorities said Vaulx withdrew cash, transferred funds to others, made personal retail purchases, and paid bills with the money. He later applied for loan forgiveness by falsely claiming that he had used the funds for legitimate business expenses.
A sentencing memo noted that “essentially stealing money intended for those struggling with the pandemic,” was motivated by greed given Vaulx’s significant monthly cash flow and a gross monthly income of $25,000 at the time of his offenses.
Judge Clark ordered Vaulx to repay $629,809.
“This case highlights the United States Secret Service’s commitment to aggressively target individuals who have taken advantage of federal pandemic programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Travis Gibson of the U.S. Secret Service - St. Louis Field Office.
Vaulx pleaded guilty in January to two counts of wire fraud.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gwen Carroll and Stephen Casey.
