Watervliet Woman Admits to SBA Loan Application Fraud

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Ouida Cordell, age, 47, of Watervliet, New York, pled guilty today to one count of wire fraud for her submission of a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Darren B. Cox, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of the FBI, made the announcement.

As part of her guilty plea, Cordell admitted that on July 13, 2020, she submitted an online application to the SBA for an EIDL on behalf of her company, Bashment Entertainment LLC, that falsely overstated Bashment’s annual revenues.  As a result of the fraud, Cordell and her company Bashment received an EIDL loan in the amount of $149,500 for which she and the company were not entitled.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 28, 2023, before United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby.  Cordell faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

The FBI, with assistance from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Office of Internal Affairs, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss is prosecuting this case.