In a shocking case of COVID-19 relief fraud, a 50-year-old New York woman was indicted after she obtained over $3 million in loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, money that she was granted after submitting at least 27 applications to the SBA under the pretense that the money was needed to pay employees.
For context, Donna Ingram, a resident of New York City’s Long Island borough, was arrested on May 23, 2024, on charges of wire fraud, disaster relief fraud, and theft of public funds after an investigation was conducted by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York in tandem with a host of agencies and state organizations, including the U.S. Secret Service, the office of the Inspector General of the SBA’s Eastern Region office, the NYPD, and others — a team effort that ended in Ingram’s indictment.
A statement released by ICE provided further details regarding Ingram’s crimes, detailing how the New Yorker submitted “at least 27 Paycheck Protection Program loan applications on behalf of her own companies as well as at least 22 other businesses.” Continuing, the report covers how Ingram was dishonest in these applications, falsifying “claims about their revenue, number of employees, payroll costs, and intended use of the loan proceeds.”
Moving on, the ICE report listed an egregious example of Ingram’s fraud, describing how she had received money from other business owners after applying for SBA loans on their behalf. “The businesses provided Ingram with kickbacks of at least $430,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program loan proceeds for her preparation and submission of the fraudulent applications,” the report explains.
In the same statement from ICE, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace weighed in on the case, saying, “This money was meant to help businesses weather the pandemic. In reality, the defendant was lining her own pockets.” Peace continued, “The pandemic may be over, but this Office will continue prosecuting those who took advantage of the COVID crisis and stole funds from vitally important government relief programs.”
Adding to U.S. Attorney Peace’s statements, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Freaney also commented on the case, saying, “Bilking a loan program that served as a lifeline to businesses experiencing distress during the pandemic is simply unconscionable.” Agent Freaney continued, “While our nation has moved past the pandemic, the United States Secret Service remains steadfast in its commitment to holding these alleged fraudsters accountable.”
In addition, New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban also provided ICE with statements regarding Ingram’s crimes. Commissioner Caban expressed his commitment to stopping other New Yorkers from committing similar forms of fraud, saying, “The NYPD will continue to assist our federal partners in any of their investigations related to that grave time, with the goal of protecting taxpayer funds and holding all alleged fraudsters accountable for their actions.”
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Concluding the statements from the lead figures involved in the case, the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Region Special Agent in Charge, Jonathan Mellone, expressed a similar commitment to stopping fraudsters like Ingram in the wake of the pandemic. Special Agent Mellone said, “An important part of the mission of the U.S Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General is to investigate allegations of pandemic-related fraud. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate these types of allegations.”
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