Woman Pleads Guilty for Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Fraud

A Dallas area woman who allegedly purloined more than $40,000 from pandemic-era financial programs pleaded guilty today to theft of government property, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Monica Moreno, 40, was indicted in November 2022. She plead guilty today to one count of theft to government property before U.S. Magistrate District Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez.

According to plea papers, Ms. Moreno applied for – and received – funds from three different pandemic relief programs, The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, the Paycheck Protection Program, and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, totaling approximately $44,757 in federal funds.

Ms. Moreno submitted an advance EIDL loan for her alleged business, JBP Financial.  In application paperwork, she lied about her criminal history, indicating that she had never been convicted of a criminal offense despite her 2015 conviction for aggravated identity theft, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy to defraud the united states, crimes for which she was sentenced to 48 months in prison. Ms. Moreno received $2,000 and used some of the funds for her personal benefit.

In addition, Ms. Moreno submitted applications for over a year that contained false information to each of the three disaster relief programs and received approximately $44,757 in federal funds.

Ms. Moreno now faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s Gulf States Field Division, led by Special Agent in Charge Gary Smith, and the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General’s Dallas Field Office, led by Special Agent in Charge Michael Martin, conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nashonme Johnson is prosecuting the case with the help of Financial Auditor Sheila Powell.

Both the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the expanded Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program were authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PPP provided forgivable loans to small businesses to cover payroll, rent, and other certain expenses; EIDL provided quickly-issued, partially-forgivable loans to small business to cover operational expenses, including accounts payable,  as well as payroll, mortgages, and other bills. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, also authorized under the CARES Act, provided up to 39 weeks of expanded unemployment benefits for individuals impacted by COVID-19.