Former NC couple admit lying on 30 forms to defraud feds out of $2M in COVID, bank funds
A couple who previously lived in Huntersville pleaded guilty to fraudulently using their moving business to receive $2 million in bank loans and COVID relief funds from the federal government, authorities said Wednesday.
Antoine Johnson, 48, and 43-year-old Kimberly Maddox, now residing in Georgia, obtained money from the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Relief Disaster Loan, multiple lines of credit and bank loans, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The fraud occurred between 2018 and last year, according to U.S. Attorney Dena King of the U.S. Western District of North Carolina.
Johnson and Maddox operated Pick Up and Go Moving International and PUGMI, an affiliated business.
To get loans, they lied on more than 30 loan applications about income, gross revenues expenses and employee totals, according to plea documents. Fabricated tax returns and financial documents were also sent to get money.
The FBI investigated the case.
Maddox and Johnson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. The charges were announced by King’s office in February.
They are facing up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. After the plea hearing, Johnson and Maddox were released on bond. The court has not set a sentencing date yet.
COVID fraud in the Charlotte region
To date, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of N.C. has prosecuted around 30 people for defrauding government funding programs related to the COVID pandemic.
In March, Zadih Cadyma, a Charlotte tax preparer, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for fraudulently obtaining $780,000 in COVID relief funds from the federal government and for money laundering between 2020 and 2021, according to authorities.
Ashley Cross, a behavioral health services provider, was convicted in May by a federal jury for defrauding the South Carolina Medicaid program, falsely obtaining COVID relief funds and money laundering, according to a news release from King’s office. She used the personal identifying information of Medicaid beneficiaries to file reimbursement claims totaling $1.3 million.
Cross also obtained more than $287,000 in COVID PPP loans for her business and Gucci International Inc., a purported event planning business owned by her boyfriend and co-conspirator.
A sentencing date has not been set.
