SPOKANE, Wash. — Marisa Beck, a 41-year-old woman from Spokane, was sentenced for fraud after admitting to fraudulently obtaining more than $360,000 in COVID-19 federal relief funding intended for small businesses during the pandemic.
Beck is sentenced to 12 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release, as well as a fine of $402,020.32 to pay back the total loss to the public as a result of the fraud.
The federal funding comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act which provided relief for small businesses at risk during the pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which provided loans for small businesses to retain jobs, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) which also offered low-interest funding for small businesses.
According to court documents and the sentencing hearing, Beck admitted to fraudulently obtaining $368,829 in PPP and EIDL funding for three businesses: Cyra Solar LLC, Beck N’ Call Landscape, LLC and Value in People Consulting, LLC.
Beck admitted that the businesses were not eligible for CARES Act funding, as Beck N’ Call Landscape and Cyra Solar were inactive businesses as of February 2020. She also admitted to reporting false and fraudulent payroll, revenue and other information associated with the businesses to fraudulently obtain CARES Act funding.
“Many small businesses struggled during the COVID-19 shutdowns and were eligible for pandemic relief funds to keep their doors open and to ensure that their employees could keep their jobs. Fraudulent schemes diverted critical money set aside to help those businesses and instead were used to enrich individuals such as Ms. Beck,” stated U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref. “I’m grateful for the investigators and prosecutors of our COVID Fraud Strike Force. Their teamwork and focus on uncovering fraud strengthens our community and protects small and local businesses.”
The case was investigated by the Eastern Washington COVID Fraud Strike Force and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General with the Spokane Resident Office.
Other assistance and support was provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Spokane Resident Agency, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General and Western Regional Office and the Internal Revenue Service out of Seattle.
“Today’s sentencing underscores the VA Office of Inspector General’s commitment to rooting out fraudsters and safeguarding taxpayer funds,” said Special Agent in Charge Dimitriana Nikolov from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Northwest Field Office. “The VA OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners as part of the COVID-19 Strike Force to investigate fraud against relief programs intended to support bona fide recipients.”
