SPOKANE, Wash. — Two former Air Force airmen have been indicted by a federal grand jury on 12 counts of fraud after allegedly attempting to falsely obtain $300,000 in COVID-19 relief funding.
According to the office of United States Attorney Vanessa Waldref, Taylor Jashaun Kendall, 26, of Spokane and Michael Tyriq Allen, 26, of Gainesville, Georgia submitted three separate applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans using false and fraudulent information.
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law and provided a number of programs through which eligible small businesses could request and obtain relief funding intended to mitigate the economic impacts of the pandemic for small and local businesses.
Of these programs, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) program offered forgivable loans to eligible small businesses in order to retain or rehire employees who lost their jobs or were in danger of doing so, due to the pandemic. Another program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, provided low-interest loans that could be deferred until the conclusion of the pandemic to provide “bridge” funding for small businesses to maintain their operations during shutdowns and other economic circumstances caused by the pandemic.
According to the indictment, between June 2020 and May 2021, Kendall and Allen fraudulently obtained at least $300,000 in CARES Act funding through the EIDL and PPP programs. The U.S. Attorney's Office says Kendall was an Airman stationed at Fairchild Airforce Base during the timeframe alleged in the Indictment.
As alleged in the indictment, between June 18, 2020, and June 24, 2020, Kendall and Allen submitted three applications for EIDL using false and fraudulent information, claiming their business was engaged in agriculture, had 10 employees and a monthly revenue of $4,625.00. Additionally, the men allegedly submitted two applications for PPP loans using false and fraudulent information, and a Second Draw PPP application in April 2021.
Two of the three EIDL applications were approved and Kendall and Allen allegedly received $20,000 in EIDL funds, while all three PPP applications were approved and Kendall and Allan received more than $61,000 in PPP funds.
The indictment further alleges that Kendall and Allan also submitted false and fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications on behalf of other individuals using false information, who would then reportedly send a portion of the loan money back to Kendall and Allen.
In total, Kendall and Allen submitted fraudulent applications resulting in the disbursement of at least $80,000 in EIDL advances and $269,900 in PPP loan funds.
“COVID-19 relief programs were designed to lift up our community during crisis. Due to the number of people and businesses that requested funding, some deserving small businesses did not receive critical funding to keep their doors open through the pandemic, which impacted their employees, their families, and our local economy.” said U.S. Attorney Waldref. “We created the COVID Fraud Strike Force to ensure that those who misused COVID-19 relief funding are held accountable and to protect the strength and safety of our vital small business community.”
The fraud charges against Kendall and Allen carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison. Three other former Airmen have entered into criminal diversion agreements with the United States in relation to their participation in the scheme.
