Louisiana Man Indicted for Alleged Fraud and Making False Statements to Federal Agents in Connection with 110 Bogus PPP Loan Applications

Louisiana Man Indicted for Alleged Fraud and Making False Statements to Federal Agents in Connection with 110 Bogus PPP Loan Applications
New Orleans, Louisiana – A Louisiana man has been indicted for alleged fraud and making false statements to federal agents in connection with 110 bogus PPP loan applications.
United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that Dondre Morgan, (“Morgan”), age 31, of Houma, Louisiana, was indicted on March 10, 2023, on two (2) counts of Mail Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341 and one (1) count of Making False Statements to Federal Agents in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).
Morgan, Sharnae Every, Morgan’s girlfriend, and others, according to the indictment, defrauded the SBA and other authorized financial institutions of roughly $1,142,041.00 by submitting approximately 110 bogus PPP loan applications. Every encouraged friends and family members, particularly through Facebook, to send Every their personal and financial information in exchange for “free money” as part of the defrauding scam. Morgan also helped to recruit friends and family members by talking to them in person or texting them and asking them to contact Every.
Every charged the people she hired between $45.00 and $120.00 to create and submit the bogus PPP application. Every received the initial payments mostly through Cash App. Once the loans were funded, Every charged $3,500.00 and received the funds in her Current account, Cash App account, or Morgan’s Current account.
Every was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 9, 2022, for Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud and Mail Fraud. Every pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud on March 2, 2023, and is due to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier on June 8, 2023.
If convicted, Morgan faces a maximum sentence of twenty (20) years in prison for Counts 1 and 2 and five (5) years in prison for Count 3, followed by three (3) years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000.00 per count, or twice the defendant’s gross gain, or twice the gross loss to any victim, and a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee per count.
U.S. Attorney Evans emphasized that the indictment is only a charge and that the defendant’s guilt must be established beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force on May 17, 2021, to marshal the Department of Justice’s resources in collaboration with agencies across government to strengthen efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other things, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. Visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus for additional information on the Department’s response to the pandemic. The Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Veterans Affairs is a member of the PRAC Fraud Task Force.
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.
The US Attorney’s Office would also like to thank the Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of the Inspector General; the United States Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General; the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; and the United States Secret Service’s Cyber Fraud Task Force, which included the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Thibodeaux Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Chief of the Financial Crimes Section, Assistant United States Attorney Edward Rivera, COVID-19 Fraud Coordinator, and Assistant United States Attorney Mary Katherine Kaufman of the Civil Division are prosecuting this case.
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