A Chesterfield resident has admitted to defrauding several COVID-19 relief programs and faces related tax charges, according to federal prosecutors.
Sheila C. Bynum-Coleman, 54, pleaded guilty to submitting false statements in order to obtain more than $225,000 through at least nine fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans between May 2020 and March 2021. The loans were secured for eight businesses that she and her husband, Rashad H. Coleman, claimed to operate.
Court documents state that Bynum-Coleman inflated business revenue figures and created fake Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax return documents as part of the loan applications. Although excerpts from a 2020 income tax return were included in several PPP applications, neither Bynum-Coleman nor her husband filed any such returns for that year. Both have also pleaded guilty to failing to file their 2020 income tax returns.
Despite representing herself as an active business operator on PPP applications, Bynum-Coleman told the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) that she was unemployed from March 15, 2020 through February 13, 2021 in order to collect pandemic unemployment benefits. She also falsely certified that she had not applied for or received PPP funds during the period for which she was seeking unemployment assistance. Additionally, she made false statements to the U.S. Small Business Administration regarding the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program.
Authorities say Bynum-Coleman used funds obtained through fraud on personal expenses such as paying down her home loan and credit card bills and purchasing luxury clothing. About a week after receiving $62,500 in PPP loans in May 2020, she transferred $10,000 into a political campaign account named “Friends of Sheila for Delegate,” linked to her candidacy for the Virginia House of Delegates.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Avi Panth and Thomas A. Garnett prosecuted the case with investigations led by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Region and IRS Criminal Investigation Washington D.C. Field Office.
Further information about this case can be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or by searching Case No. 3:25-cr-44 on PACER or the district court’s website.
