A Snow Hill man, Tyreek Rasheed Exum, was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for his role in a COVID-19 relief loan fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina confirmed. Exum, 26, was convicted for conspiring to commit wire fraud and was charged as part of a multi-count indictment issued in March 2024.
Exum pleaded guilty to wire fraud on September 24, 2024. His co-conspirator, Anthony Wandland Jr., of Chicago, also pleaded guilty to the same charge on November 13, 2024. The two men used over 20 stolen identities, including those of co-conspirators, to submit fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PAU).
Exum and Wandland falsified income, employment, and business details on each loan application. Exum, who controlled several accounts, deposited loan proceeds into his personal account, as well as nominee accounts and those under stolen identities. He also withdrew large amounts of cash via ATMs and transferred funds using platforms like PayPal and CashApp.
The fraudulent scheme netted nearly $1 million in loan proceeds. In addition to his prison sentence, the court ordered Exum to pay over $620,000 in restitution.
