Two Florida men have been given prison sentences after they led a nationwide scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for millions of dollars in loans.
Florida Men Sentenced for PPP Loan Fraud Scheme
So far, 25 people have been charged for their part in the scheme, and now the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio has sentenced the first man – 53-year old Phillip J. Augustin from Coral Springs – to 78 months in prison. The second man, 56-year old James Stote from Hollywood, received a 120 month sentence. Both men had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in an attempt to illegally receive loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Both men will also serve three years of supervised release, with Stote ordered to pay over $10 million in restitution and another $1.1 million in forfeiture. Augustin must pay nearly $6 million in restitution and over $272,000 in forfeiture.
How the PPP Fraud Scheme Happened
Court documents described how the fraud scheme happened. It began when Augustin and Stote obtained a fraudulent PPP loan for Augustin’s company, Clear Vision Music Group LLC, by using falsified documents. Once that application was submitted, they attempted to illicitly obtain even larger PPP loans for themselves and their associates.
Stote and Augustin then began recruiting other fraudsters to act as PPP loan applicants, and helped them prepare…
