St. Louis County Man Admits Three Pandemic-Related Frauds

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Friday pleaded guilty to federal charges and admitted fraudulently receiving more than $42,000 from two pandemic loans and unemployment compensation that included more pandemic funds. 

Charles Carbon III, 37, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig to two felonies: bank fraud and wire fraud. 

On June 26, 2020, Carbon applied for and received a $10,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan, which was supposed to help business owners struggling with pandemic-related business losses. In his plea agreement, he admitted lying about the existence and purpose of a business he claimed to own, as well as the payroll, revenue and number of employees.

On Aug. 6, 2020 Carbon fraudulently applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan, again lying about the existence, purpose and finances of a business. Carbon received a $18,800 loan, which was supposed to be used for business owners to save jobs during the pandemic. 

Carbon then falsely claimed to be a self-employed event planner who did not have any work between March and August of 2020, and received $14,174.80 in unemployment benefits. That included $300 per week in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. In paperwork, Carbon lied about work he did in March and omitted the pandemic loans that he’d received, his plea says.

As part of his plea, Carbon also admitted using four forged checks totaling $12,322.

The bank fraud charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both. The wire fraud charge carries a potential punishment of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. 

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.