The owner of a Memphis, Tennessee, trucking firm and its outside financial adviser have been indicted on charges relating to allegations of fraud in receiving about $786,000 in Paycheck Protection Program funds.
Kevin Shaw is the owner and operator of Freight Masters Group, according to the indictment handed down Tuesday but announced Friday. Shaw was indicted along with Lisa Evans, who resides in Mississippi but operated a business called USA Taxes in Memphis.
The indictments were announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee. Celtic Bank is identified as the “victim bank.”
“Defendants Evans and Shaw participated in a scheme in May and June of 2020 to defraud Celtic Bank by obtaining a fraudulent PPP loan in the amount of approximately $786,212,” the indictment read. “The object of the scheme was for Evans and Shaw to obtain money from the PPP for their own personal benefit.”
Evans assisted Shaw in preparing the PPP loan application, according to the indictment.
“It was further part of the scheme that Evans provided Shaw with false Internal Revenue Service documents to submit in support of his PPP application to Celtic Bank,” per the indictment.
Evans then assisted Shaw in submitting the application for PPP funds through Celtic Bank. Among the data Evans and Shaw submitted, according to the indictment, were “false representations” regarding the number of employees at Freight Masters and the…
