OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The FBI announced Wednesday that 11 people had been arrested in an investigation into fraudulent CARES Act spending.
A grand jury indicted 11 people with a connection to Omaha for taking advantage of programs aimed at helping struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic: Carl Estwick, Jackie Harper, Tarysh G. Hogue, Richard L. Kelly, Lenfield Kendrick, Henry T. Lewis, Trevor A. McNeil, Michael A. Perkins, Michael A. Perkins Jr., Shawn Prater, and Ramel Thompson. Nine of them were arrested in Omaha; McNeil was arrested by the FBI in Atlanta and Kendrick was arrested by agents in Las Vegas.
The U.S. Attorney said authorities believe 58-year-old Thompson was the ringleader, saying he would give direction and guidance to the others when applying for payroll protection loans and economic injury disaster loans — financial mechanisms made available to businesses having trouble staying afloat during the pandemic. Investigators said they believed he would also get kickbacks from at least five of the defendants.
According to state court records obtained by WOWT 6 News, Thompson spent 270 days in jail in 2017 for Evading Income Tax and Filing Fraudulent Nebraska Income Tax Returns.
Investigators said the group applied for more than $7.6 million in loans and received $2.5 million. Some of the businesses were real, but some were made up, authorities said. But they said the information on the loan applications — from number of employees to payroll and revenue…
