An Atlanta con artist's short-lived, high-stakes gamble on defrauding the federal small business pandemic relief program has landed him behind bars. Kemar Clarke Jr., aged 28, was handed an eight-month prison sentence on Monday for his role in a scheme that swiped $41,665 from government coffers meant to help mom and pop shops weather the financial storm wrought by COVID-19, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, Jill E. Steinberg.
While doling out the sentence, U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker emphasized the need for Clarke to repay every penny swindled and slapped him with three years of supervised release following his prison term. Ordered to clean up the financial mess he created, the Atlanta man's ruse exploited the pressing needs of legitimate business owners, posing as their lifeline during a time of unprecedented economic hardship.
The Paycheck Protection Program was designed as a parachute for small businesses plunging into the fiscal abyss brought on by the pandemic, offering forgivable loans to keep them afloat. Yet, Clarke saw this as an opportunity to profit, wheeling and dealing fictitious documentation to pocket the maximum amount available to a sole proprietor. His plot, unearthed by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigative Division at Fort Stewart, helped to secure a fraudulent PPP loan for a non-existent barber shop.
According to court documents detailed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a paralegal specialist in the U.S. Army at Hunter Army Airfield was roped into Clarke's scam, landing $20,832 in ill-gotten money. He then greased Clarke's palms with an $8,000 kickback for orchestrating the charade. Through his handiwork, Clarke not only pilfered public funds but mocked the very ethos of a program meant to serve as economic salvation.
The tenacity of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Southeast Field Office is evident, as stated by Special Agent in Charge Steven Ausfeldt: “Unscrupulous actors engaged in PPP fraud have pilfered taxpayer dollars and undermined public trust in government programs.” The agents continue their mission to "aggressively pursue fraudsters who try to defraud the U.S. Army and hold them accountable for exploiting government programs for their own profit."
This case unfolded thanks to the investigations carried out by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigative Division, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew A. Josephson and David H. Estes overseeing the prosecution for the United States. Meanwhile, those with information about any form of COVID-19 related fraud can blow the whistle by getting in touch with the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline or through the NCDF Web Complaint Form.
