During COVID, Washington handed out emergency money so quickly that apparently even businesses that weren't operating could develop pandemic financial problems.
Federal prosecutors have charged Missouri resident Jamie Gray with wire fraud and money laundering after alleging he submitted 29 applications through the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program involving 19 purported businesses. Gray allegedly sought $55,931,875 and ultimately received about $820,000.
Then we get to the company name.
Of the 19 businesses Gray claimed, prosecutors say only one met the basic test of actually existing and operating before the program's February 15, 2020, eligibility cutoff. Its name was Fur Lives Matter, a real Texas company that investigators say had no knowledge of Gray. Federal authorities allege he simply used the company's identity.
From the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Rhode Island:
Beyond newly charged defendants, as part of Operation No Doze, approximately 43 defendants pleaded guilty to SBA-related COVID fraud, reaching approximately $44 million in intended loss. And approximately 40 defendants were sentenced for SBA-related COVID fraud, reaching nearly $100 million in intended loss.
Together, this targeted surge resulted in fraud enforcement actions spanning over 160 criminal defendants and involved approximately $245 million dollars in intended loss to American taxpayers.
There are fraud cases, and then there are fraud cases that arrive with their own punchline.
The government says the application contained fabricated information about ownership, employees, revenue, and business operations. The allegations haven't been proven in court, and Gray is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The funny name shouldn't hide the larger problem. Gray's case is one piece of Operation No Doze, a summer enforcement surge involving more than 40 U.S. attorneys' offices. Prosecutors say nearly 80 defendants were charged in cases involving about $100 million in intended losses, 43 defendants pleaded guilty in matters involving roughly $44 million, and about 40 defendants were sentenced in cases reaching nearly $100 million.
Put it together, and the summer operation touched more than 160 criminal defendants and roughly $245 million in intended losses. The Small Business Administration has also suspended about 870,000 borrowers associated with $39 billion in suspected fraudulent PPP and COVID EIDL activity. Suspicion isn't conviction, but those numbers explain why investigators are still digging through pandemic applications six years later.
PPP was born during an emergency. Businesses were closing, workers were being sent home, and Washington wanted money moving quickly enough to keep payrolls alive.
Speed was the whole idea.
The strangest part of this story isn't that someone allegedly tried to obtain federal money using a business called Fur Lives Matter. It's that prosecutors say 29 applications involving 19 claimed businesses could produce $820,000 before the government caught up.
Six years later, taxpayers are still paying investigators, prosecutors, auditors, and courts to sort through what happened when Washington opened the emergency cash windows.
Fur may matter.
Receipts matter more.
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