45-Year-Old Louisiana Man Charged in Federal Court with Multiple Counts in Connection with CARES Act Fraud

New Orleans, Louisiana - A 45-year-old Louisiana man has been charged in federal court with multiple counts in connection with CARES Act fraud.

On April 4, 2023, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Dent Hunter, of New Orleans, Louisiana, age 45, was indicted on March 31, 2023, on one count of making false statements, one count of theft of government funds, and two counts of money laundering related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

On March 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed into law the CARES Act, which provides emergency aid to small business owners impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, administered by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) programs were the two principal sources of finance for small enterprises.

According to the indictment, Hunter made false claims to an approved lender on or about April 6, 2020, for a business in order to get a PPP loan for $122,100. Hunter misappropriated $149,900 from the SBA on or about July 22, 2020, by using an application under the company NexLevel ONE Realty. Hunter also committed two charges of money laundering when he used the ill-gotten gains to purchase two vehicles for family members.

Hunter may face up to five years in prison for making false claims. He also faces up to ten years in prison for each count of theft and money laundering. All of the crimes carry fines of up to $250,000, three years of supervised release, and a $100 obligatory special assessment fee per count due after conviction.

U.S. Attorney Evans emphasized that an indictment is only a charge and that the defendant's guilt must be established beyond a reasonable doubt.

Please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus for more information on the Department of Justice's response to the pandemic. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can contact the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or submit a complaint using the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

An agent assigned to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force investigated this case. The PRAC was formed to assist the American people by increasing openness and facilitating coordinated supervision of the federal government's COVID-19 pandemic response. The PRAC's 21-member Inspectors General assesses important risks that cross program and agency boundaries in order to discover fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in COVID-19 spending totaling more than $5 trillion. The PRAC Fraud Task Force gathers agents from 15 Inspectors General together to investigate fraud in a number of programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program. Task force agents assigned to the PRAC are given additional jurisdiction to investigate pandemic fraud, as well as tools and training to aid in their investigations.

U.S. Attorney Evans commended the work of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General (a PRAC member) and the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation in examining this incident. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera of the Financial Crimes Section.