Laplace Woman Guilty of Making False Statements to Small Business Administration

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – Acting United States Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that LATRICIA HOPE HAYNES MOLIERE (“MOLIERE”), age 51, a resident of LaPlace, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Eldon E. Fallon on April 10, 2025, to making False Statements to the Small Business Administration (SBA), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.

According to court documents, MOLIERE submitted an application for a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in March 2021.  In this application, she falsely represented that she owned a baking sole proprietorship with an average monthly payroll of $8,041.  In support of the PPP application, MOLIERE attached a fraudulent Internal Revenue Service Form 1040 Schedule C.  Several months later, MOLIERE filed a petition for bankruptcy in which she said that she was not a sole proprietor.  As a result of her false representations, MOLIERE received $20,102 from the SBA.  This loan was later forgiven because MOLIERE falsely represented that she had spent the SBA funds on payroll.

MOLIERE faces a prison term of up to five years, a term of supervised release of up to three years, a fine of up to $250,000, a mandatory special assessment fee of $100, and payment of restitution in the amount of $20,102 to the SBA.

Judge Fallon set sentencing in this matter for July 10, 2025.

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.

For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work the United States Secret Service and the United States Trustee in investigating this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Maria M. Carboni of the Financial Crimes Unit is handling the prosecution.