Mitchell Summerfield, a 45-year-old pastor from Raleigh, entered a guilty plea on charges of bank fraud and wire fraud this week, after being accused of manipulating COVID-19 relief funds to the tune of over $400,000. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Summerfield faces up to 30 years in prison, a fine reaching $1,000,000, and a subsequent five years of supervised release for his actions. Moreover, he will be compelled to make restitution, the sum of which is pending determination.
Summerfield, while serving as the religious leader for the Word of God Fellowship Church and owner of several businesses including Winning Ways and Vision and Destiny, conspired from July 2020 through July 2021 to craft false applications for loans designed to provide economic support during the pandemic. It has been reported he went so far as to include fabricated tax returns to bolster his applications. These programs, part of the CARES Act, were created by Congress as a bulwark to protect small businesses from the financial storm that COVID-19 wrought, meant to aid entities struggling to maintain payroll and other essential expenses in uncertain times.
Documents presented in court revealed that Summerfield had submitted multiple fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications on behalf of his businesses. According to statements obtained by the IRS, these applications contained various deceitful affirmations designed to induce the SBA and lending institutions into granting the loan amounts he requested. Successful in his ploy, Summerfield managed to secure in excess of $400,000 in illicit funds, which he then used for personal gains rather than the intended purpose of supporting business operations amid the economic hardship of the pandemic.
Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced the plea after U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle accepted it. The investigation, led by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit, has brought to light the misuse of programs meant to serve as a financial life raft for small businesses. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa K. Labresh was tasked with prosecuting the case.
