Six suspects, including three from Massachusetts, are now facing hard time for their roles in a sophisticated $7.5 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) scam. The crew, accused of fleecing funds meant for struggling businesses during the pandemic, allegedly operated across multiple states, bamboozling lenders with dozens of fake applications.
Charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money shenanigans, the list of defendants reads like a white-collar rogue's gallery: Wallace Ford, 38, from Georgia, Adiana Pierre, 39, of Tennessee, Gardy Alexandre, 51, residing in Florida, Richardson Rhau, 49, alongside Wens Herby Mathurin, 26, both hailing from Massachusetts. Each has agreed to plead guilty, though no dates for their plea hearings in court have yet been set. Meanwhile, Massachusett's own Bill Dessaps, 46, faces indictment for the trifecta: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and bank fraud.
These alleged white-collar swindlers gamed the system, lining their pockets with millions in government aid intended for pandemic-struck small businesses, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts. The scam involved inventing employee numbers and fudging payroll figures to inflate loan sizes. Once the PPP funds were secured, the borrowers reportedly kicked back a sweet 10 to 20 percent to the orchestrators of the scheme.
In total, Ford, Pierre, and Alexandre are said to have raked in over a cool million dollars from the kickback payouts. For instance, Dessaps' used car dealership allegedly boasted 40 non-existent employees to bag a hefty $836,800 loan. Simultaneously, Mathurin's phantom cargo business claimed 25 workers to secure $313,852. The charging documents reveal that after pocketing the PPP cash, Dessaps and Mathurin funneled kickbacks to their co-conspirators, including an extra $45,000 from Mathurin to Rhau.
Shoot, if convicted, these fellows could find themselves locked up for decades—all over a bit of greed and a lot of deception. Wire fraud charges alone could slap them with 20 years in the slammer, while money laundering could add another 20, and bank fraud could lead to 30 more years tacked on.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy and IRS honcho Harry Chavis, Jr. broke the news of the charges. The case is in the capable hands of Assistant U.S. Attorneys David M. Holcomb and Alexandra W. Amrhein, skilled in dancing the complex tango of securities, financial cybercrime, and asset recovery.
