A McCordsville woman who ran a business promising to help people secure COVID-19 relief loans has admitted to running a fraud scheme that cost taxpayers approximately $632,905. Sandra Pierce, 42, owned Sandy's on the Run and claimed to assist individuals and small businesses in obtaining federal pandemic relief funds, according to federal court documents. Instead, prosecutors say she drafted and submitted fake applications, pocketed the proceeds, and left the government holding the bill.
The case has been described two ways in local coverage. As reported by WIBC 93.1 FM, Pierce was charged in the federal pandemic-fraud sweep, while a separate report from WISH-TV states that Pierce, 42, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Court records cited in that report say Pierce owned Sandy's on the Run and claimed to help individuals and businesses get COVID-19 relief loans.
Prosecutors say Pierce submitted 22 fraudulent loan applications under the names of other people and collected more than $100,000 in fees from those clients. She also submitted applications in her own name and received $48,191 from the government, per the same account. The total loss to taxpayers was approximately $632,905, according to the report.
Sentencing Still Pending
A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. The Greenfield Reporter notes that a U.S. District Court judge will set that hearing at a later date. Wire fraud counts carry a potential penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison, according to the seed report from WIBC.
U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler did not mince words about the case. “Exploiting a national crisis for personal gain goes against every fiber of Hoosier decency,” Wheeler said, according to WIBC. He added that the Paycheck Protection Program “was created to help honest small business owners survive an unprecedented hardship, not to serve as an opportunity for fraud.”
Part of a Sweeping National Crackdown
Pierce's case is one piece of Operation No Doze, a Department of Justice National Fraud Enforcement Division effort that ran from June 12 to September 1 and swept up more than 160 defendants nationwide. The operation accounted for roughly $245 million in intended losses to American taxpayers and targeted people who illegally exploited SBA pandemic relief programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan initiatives, per WIBC's reporting. The Greenfield Reporter separately noted that the effort included more than 160 criminal defendants overall, with approximately 80 newly charged, and described it as the largest action ever to fight SBA fraud.
The scale of the underlying problem is substantial. Federal authorities have reported that roughly 870,000 borrowers have been suspended in connection with suspected PPP and EIDL fraud, involving $39 billion in suspected fraudulent activity, according to WIBC. Collection notices are already being dispatched to suspected fraudsters, and officials have warned that those flagged must repay the stolen funds or face federal prosecution.
A New Division Built to Chase Pandemic-Era Fraud
The Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, which worked with 40 U.S. Attorney's Offices and 20 law enforcement agencies on Operation No Doze. The division focuses on investigating and prosecuting fraud against the American people, and its anti-fraud work supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which J.D. Vance chairs, per the article. That task force is described as a whole-of-government effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.
Pierce's case is far from isolated within the broader sweep. In Texas, prosecutors pursued Arun Mago, who allegedly received multiple fraudulent PPP loans totaling $905,264, and Eve Zou, charged with making false representations to obtain EIDL funds and grants tied to $319,000 in SBA loans, according to Texas Scorecard. That outlet also reported that Craig and Chemika Bennett pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after fabricating employees and business expenses that cost the SBA $697,000.
