A New Orleans man has faced the music for defrauding federal aid programs intended to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dent Hunter, 46, was handed a sentence of five years probation last Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Louisiana. In a case that sheds light on the dark twists some will take amidst crisis, Hunter pled guilty to making false statements and money laundering related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), as per the details released by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson.
The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, sought to render emergency assistance through programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), both administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Court documents revealed that Hunter exploited these emergency measures, fabricating statements to secure a PPP loan for $122,100 on behalf of a business around April 6, 2020. Subsequently, he filched $149,900 from the SBA under the guise of NexLevel ONE Realty.
Not content with merely obtaining these funds improperly, Hunter also conducted money laundering by purchasing two vehicles with the money, allegedly for family members. His actions caught up with him, and Judge Darrel James Papillion has now ordered him to complete 400 hours of community service and pay over $1 million in restitution to the SBA, along with a $200 special assessment fee, as mentioned in the U.S. Attorney's Office statement.
This case comes as part of a broader effort by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force to monitor and curb misuse of pandemic-related funds, a pool that exceeds $5 trillion. The task force is a collective comprising agents from 15 Inspectors General with expanded authority to investigate such fraud. The PRAC, created to promote transparency and oversight of the federal government’s COVID-19 spending, relies on public assistance to track down offenders. Individuals with knowledge of COVID-19 fraud attempts can report to the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline or file a complaint through the NCDF Web Complaint Form.
The conviction was the result of investigations by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - Office of Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, both members of the PRAC. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera of the Financial Crimes Unit led the prosecution of the case.
