Former mayoral candidate charged with stealing from the Paycheck Protection Program

ATLANTA - Olivia Ware, a former candidate for Mayor of the City of Conyers, has been arraigned on federal charges of bank fraud and money laundering stemming from a scheme to use a company she started to steal over $323,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). 

“Authorities continue to examine Paycheck Protection Program loans for acts of fraud, as the charges against Ware demonstrate,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine.  “Those who would consider stealing from the Paycheck Protection Program should think twice.”

“It has been said that bad times bring out the best in people, this case is not an example of that. Ware tried to defraud the government out of money meant to help small businesses affected by the pandemic continue operations and take care of their employees. Instead of helping others through a difficult time as the money was intended, she used the money for personal gain,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “Every time a fraudster steals money from the PPP fund another legitimate business is unable to get those funds to help real employees with real families. HSI’s OPERATION STOLEN PROMISE protects the country from the threat of COVID-19-related fraud and criminal activity.”

According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges, and other information presented in court: The PPP is an emergency funding program created to assist small business owners and their employees during the coronavirus pandemic.  PPP loans are fully guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). 

In 2020, Olivia Ware was the CEO of a Georgia company called Let’s Talk About the Family, Inc., but according to state records, it did not pay wages to any employees.  Yet, Ware allegedly submitted a false application to a bank for a PPP loan for the company that included fictitious tax records purporting to show the company had 54 employees that were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary. 

As a result of this materially false information, the bank loaned over $323,000 in PPP funds to Ware’s company.  Ware then allegedly spent the PPP loan for her own benefit, including to buy an in-ground swimming pool, furniture, and other home improvement items, and to pay down the principal on her mortgage.

Ware, 61, of Oxford, Georgia, faces charges of bank fraud and money laundering.  She was arraigned on a criminal information on March 16, 2021.

Members of the public are reminded that the criminal information only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bernita B. Malloy and Trevor C. Wilmot are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.