Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., has unveiled an indictment against a couple accused of concocting a scheme to steal over $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Marilyn Peter, 54, and Mark Anthony, 58, are facing charges of Grand Larceny in the First and Second Degree, as well as Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, for their alleged roles in defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Empire State Development (ESD), as announced by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
According to information obtained by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, the duo is said to have used the identity of three individuals, including family members, to file false loan applications for 11 different companies. Allegedly, Peter and Anthony posed as these individuals when dealing with the SBA and ESD’s grant program administrator, Lendistry, using controlled email accounts to communicate and even execute loan agreements bearing the names of the said individuals.
Between May 2020 and August 2021, the couple purportedly secured $1.7 million by filing applications that contained fabricated information regarding employee numbers, revenue, and cost of goods sold for nine companies. Following this, they attempted to increase these EIDL loans, an attempt which the SBA flagged for fraud, leading to Peter and Anthony defaulting on these loans. From September 2021 to April 2022, they also acquired $500,000 in ESD grants for 10 companies by misrepresenting financial data, such as gross receipts figures, and submitting applications for companies that hadn’t even filed their 2019 tax return at the time of the grant agreement signature.
Furthermore, in a real estate transaction associated with this case, the District Attorney's Office states that Peter and Anthony transferred $1.2 million in October 2021 to acquire an apartment complex in Queens, with the majority of those funds comprising the illicitly obtained EIDL loan proceeds and ESD grants. This action invariably brings into question the moral fiber of those who would, in daylight robbery, divert resources meant for struggling companies in need while the pandemic was in its full wrath.
Assistant D.A. Jaime Hickey-Mendoza is leading the prosecution, supported by several other members of the D.A.’s office, including forensic accounting and financial investigations units, and the Rackets Bureau. In the investigation, the D.A. has acknowledged the cooperation of various organizations, including the New York State Inspector General’s Office, the SBA, and the New York State Urban Development Corporation, among others. New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang condemned the wrongdoers for undermining government trust in a time of profound need, according to her statement.
