Former Louisiana Resident Pleads Guilty to Cares Act Fraud and Sentenced to Probation

NEW ORLEANS –  BRANDI WEBER, age 28, formerly of New Orleans, LA and now residing in California, pleaded guilty to one-count of making false statements related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. WEBER was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter to two (2) years’ probation. In addition, WEBER was ordered to pay $29,177.50 in restitution to the SBA and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.

On March 27, 2020, The CARES Act established several new temporary programs and provided for the expansion of others to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these programs, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) authorized forgivable loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to small businesses to retain workers and maintain payroll, make mortgage interest payments, lease payments, and utility payments. The PPP allows the interest and principal on the PPP loan to be forgiven if the business spends the loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated period of time after receiving the proceeds and uses at least a certain percentage of the PPP loan proceeds on payroll expenses. 

According to court documents, WEBER made false statements to an approved lender on or about April 2, 2021, for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining a PPP loan. WEBER falsely stated in her PPP application that she was a self-employed esthetician impacted by the pandemic when, in truth, she had no such business in 2020.

For more information on the Department of Justice’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Amtrak Office of Inspector General – Criminal Investigations in investigating this matter.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera of the Financial Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.