A brother and sister duo from the Houston area have been hit with federal charges of cooking up a $1.2 million fraudulent scheme to steal COVID-19 relief funds. Announced by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, the charges paint a grim picture of Jonathan Flores, 31, and Bianca April Flores, 29, as masterminds of deceit.
Accused of filing fraudulent applications under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications, the siblings allegedly inflated the number of employees and payroll expenses to line their pockets with government cash. They are slated to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina A. Bryan, with each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, gazing at five years and up to 20 years in federal prison, respectively, if found guilty.
The tag team of deceit is said to have conjured up nine fake loan applications, according to the indictment dated Nov. 29, routing approximately $1.2 million into their pockets, as alleged in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin R. Martin is prosecuting the case.
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