A Mid-City Los Angeles woman has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $2 million in COVID-19 relief loans and attempting to claim nearly $1.3 million in false tax refunds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced.
Casie Hynes, 39, submitted over 80 fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) between June 2020 and December 2021. She used a combination of real and fictitious companies, including Nasty Womxn Project and She Suite Collective, falsely claiming that these businesses were owned by herself, her friends, or family members.
The fraudulent applications included misrepresentations about employee numbers, payroll amounts, and tax and bank documents. Banks and the Small Business Administration (SBA) approved the applications, releasing funds that Hynes then used for personal expenses.
In total, Hynes attempted to cause $3.17 million in losses but successfully defrauded approximately $2.25 million. Furthermore, from May 2021 to April 2022, she used the same companies to file false tax claims seeking $1.25 million in COVID-19 tax credits. However, the IRS did not approve any of these fraudulent claims.
As part of her sentencing, Hynes was ordered to pay $2,376,168 in restitution. This case serves as a reminder of the federal government’s ongoing efforts to investigate and prosecute fraud related to COVID-19 relief programs.
Anyone with information about potential fraud in these programs can report it to the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721.