A Texas couple, Michael and Tiffany Fullerton, have been handed significant prison sentences for exploiting the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Georgetown residents were implicated in a scheme involving multiple fraudulent loan applications that netted them around $3 million, funds intended to cushion small businesses during the pandemic's economic downturn.
The justice served was significant, with Michael Fullerton, 51, receiving a sentence of 286 months and Tiffany Fullerton, 48, sentenced to 108 months in federal prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas. With doors to justice ostensibly closing on this chapter of fraud, the court also ordered the pair to pay restitution totaling $3,027,526.11.
The Fullertons’ fraudulent activities involved the use of an existing business and three expired companies to file six PPP loan applications, hoping to leverage pandemic-flattened checks and balances. They succeeded in obtaining funds for five applications. Their loot, however, wasn't used for any payroll protection but rather to finance a fledgling enterprise in Oklahoma, replete with a marijuana grow operation, a bar and grill, as well as an auto/boat repair shop - not to mention splurging on a motor home and luxury items.
U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza did not mince words. "Michael and Tiffany Fullerton were convicted of defrauding our federal government and banks during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic," Esparza stated to the U.S. Attorney's Office, "They took advantage of a national emergency to enrich themselves. This U.S. Attorney’s Office will not hesitate to hold fraudsters who abuse public programs accountable." The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) spearheaded the investigation, following the money trail left by the Fullertons.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Keith Henneke and G. Karthik Srinivasan led the prosecution of this case. They exposed a series of falsified documents, including payroll records, banking details, and financial statements submitted by the Fullertons in their loan applications. The meticulous financial investigation by IRS-CI's acting Special Agent in Charge, Lucy Tan, told the U.S. Attorney's Office, "The stolen money became their playground, purchasing luxury watches, cars and other goods.” She went on to highlight the inevitability of their capture, "If you’re committing the crime, it’s only a matter of time before you’re caught and sent to prison."
