Ronoan woman pleads guilty in the salary fraud scheme

ROANOKE, Washington (WDBJ/USA Prosecutor’s Office) is a woman Rocanok, accused of plotting with dozens of people to do fraud with a wage deflation scheme for salary program, pleaded in the US District Court in Roanoan.

31 -year -old Hayeck Michelle Austin spoke to one conspiracy count on fraud and one calculation of money laundering. Austin was charged in June 2024 along with 23 others In the framework of the indictment with the 142 calculation, which claims fraud with wire, the conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, false statements and fraud regarding the emergency payment program.

The salary protection program (PPP) was a COVID-19 pandemic care program, led by the SMA Administration (SBA), which provided farewell loans to small businesses and some other costs.

In the period from June 2020 to December 2020, Austin communicated with several people, including tax training to find out about receiving a loan on tax return and PPP loan, the US Prosecutor’s Office reports. In January 2021, Austin and the Tax Preparing began to discuss PPP loans for other people, using false information about applications. They agreed to recover from potential applicants to receive $ 5,000 for a loan for a fraction $ 20,000.

Austin recruited people to apply for PPPs through social media and oral words, knowing that the majority who would apply, had no right to receive such loans because they did not have their own business and were not self-employed at the time or two conditions required for the DPP loans.

Austin and its co -authors were accused of submitting more than 100 fraudulent applicants for a PPP loan on behalf of the applicants, including those who did not have previous business. These annexes included numerous erroneous statements, excessive business income and fraudulent IRS.

Austin was also accused of submitting fraudulent PPP loans for his own business, Mecella’s boutique. As part of these applications, prosecutors stated that Austin had inflated the amount of income he received a boutique of Mecell. Based on her fraudulent submission, Austin eventually received two PPP loans for a total amount of more than $ 52,000.

The US Prosecutor’s Office is ongoing:

On October 4, 2021, Austin used part of the revenue from his SPP fraud scheme to buy a new home for single -family homes in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, since Austin was already concerned that the Federates were watching her and do not want to attract additional attention from the federal government, she sought to hide the source of the funds she used to make it at home for $ 70,000.

As a result, Austin gave $ 70,000 to his third party fraudulent revenue; Then the third party connected the funds to the final lawyer. Austin and the third party mistakenly represented that this money is a third party gift and that it does not come from Austin. Two days later, the Austin closed on Charlotte’s property and used its fraud income to pay some mortgage payments. In May 2022, Austin filed an act of refusal that he and her mother jointly owned Charlotte’s property.

In April 2023, Austin and her mother transferred Charlotte’s property for sale, and she passed a $ 398,000 contract. Austin and her mother had to get just less than $ 95,000 from this sale. In May 2023, the United States seized these income from sale and, according to the default decision in August 2024, the money was reimbursed in the United States.

Austin agreed to pay full restitution for his offenses and agreed to the decision to confiscate money of $ 190,390.

After the verdict of Austin, he threatens up to 20 years in a federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire frauds and up to 10 years for the amount of money laundering. She is the third of the 24 defendants, accused of indictment to admit her guilt.