Federal Judiciary

?The Department of Justice has been casting a wide net charging these SBA loan fraud cases, and I look forward to discovering if this is an example of that net having been cast too wide.?

That was Bradley Horenstein discussing his new COVID-19 case. His client is accused of getting a relief loan for a farm in Miami... according to the feds, no farm. From the Herald:

As the coronavirus spread havoc in South Florida, prosecutors say Latoya Stanley and Johnny Philus hauled in $1 million in federal relief loans while claiming they were struggling to operate a beauty supply store, an auto leasing business and a couple of farms in North Miami.

Their loan applications were all made up, the feds say ? especially the part that they were ?farmers? on tiny residential lots in the urban community.

Stanley, 38, and Philus, 33, were arrested Wednesday. They are charged with committing wire fraud and making false statements when they applied for Small Business Administration loans under a new federal program that provides financial assistance to businesses ailing from the impact of COVID-19. Both were released on a $100,000 bond and face arraignment on Sept. 9 in Miami federal court.

***

?In actuality, the complaint alleges that Stanley and Philus employed no one and the farms did not exist,? according to the U.S. Attorney?s Office.

In their government loan applications filed in May and June, Stanley and Philus claimed to operate two businesses ? Dream Gurl Beauty Supply and Elegance Auto Boutique ? out of a duplex building on one-sixth of an acre at 1275 NE 118th St.

Full post as published by Southern District of Florida on August 27, 2020 (boomark / email).