New Report Nearly Triples Estimated Amount Covid Fraudsters Stole In Unemployment Benefits
Americans will pay on multiple levels for this overspending long after the lockdowns have concluded.Americans will pay on multiple levels for this overspending long after the lockdowns have concluded.Miami real estate agent sentenced to prison for using COVID PPP funds to get Bentley, luxury apartment, and cosmetic procedures: 'Everybody was doing it'
A Miami real estate agent was sentenced to prison for using COVID-19 relief funds from the government to get a Bentley, a luxury apartment, and cosmetic procedures.
Daniela Rendon obtained $381,000 through the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans under her company names Rendon PA and Rendon Holdings, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida. To qualify for PPP loans, she is accused of falsifying her revenue, number of employees, and payroll at her real estate business, then submitting fraudulent IRS tax forms.
USA Today reported, "She then enrolled her friends, family members, and herself as employees of Rendon PA to disperse the checks, according to the indictment."
She purportedly wrote a 30-page thesis explaining the economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and suggested a plan to launch non-profit organizations to support those affected by the pandemic.
Rendon – a self-described "Ultra Luxury" real estate agent on LinkedIn – submitted the fabricated reports to lenders in New Jersey and Idaho, according to the Miami Herald. Rendon reportedly used the payroll processor in New Jersey to facilitate the COVID relief loans through her corporate bank account. She then allegedly issued the checks to family and friends.
The Florida real estate agent used that fraudulently obtained funds from the Small Business Administration to lease a 2021 Bentley Bentayga, rent a luxury Biscayne Bay apartment, pay for cosmetic procedures, and refinish her designer shoes. Rendon reportedly operated the scam between April 2020 to April 2022.
The 31-year-old mother of three was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and one count of aggravated identity theft. She faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
On Thursday, Rendon pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in April 2023 after the prosecutors dropped all of the other charges. She was sentenced to three and a half years in prison – the shortest prison sentence recommended by sentencing guidelines. Rendon will be under supervised release and owes nearly $200,000 in restitution.
Rendon said her fraudulent actions were "motivated by insatiable greed."
She said in a statement to the court, "Looking back, it becomes all too tempting to utter the words 'everybody was doing it' as a feeble attempt to rationalize my actions. I regretfully confess that I once foolishly believed that the victims of my crimes were merely the faceless entities of the U.S. Government."
In June, the Office of Inspector General of the Small Business Administration released a report that found that the federal government lost more than $200 billion in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds to potential fraud, waste, and abuse.
The report estimated that at least 17% of the total COVID relief funds valued at $1.2 trillion were stolen through fraud schemes.
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Influencer charged with fraud over COVID relief funds | Rush Hour www.youtube.com
Yes, Biden’s Student Loan ‘Forgiveness’ Is Also Immoral
If the left believes high school graduates should be on the hook for $6,000 apiece in loans they didn’t take out, they should just say so.White House says that Republicans who criticized the Biden admin's student loan cancellation plan previously benefitted from PPP loan forgiveness
Republicans have been lambasting the Biden administration's plan to cancel massive amounts of federal student loan debt, but on Thursday, the White House fired back at several GOP lawmakers by saying that the Republican figures had benefitted from Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness.
The PPP program was meant to help buoy businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The official White House Twitter account retweeted a clip in which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia had described student loan cancellation as "completely unfair."
"Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven," the White House tweeted.
\u201cCongressman Vern Buchanan had over $2.3 million in PPP loans forgiven.\n\nhttps://t.co/bXpwJlWRm4\u201d— The White House (@The White House) 1661463234
The White House also targeted GOP Reps. Vern Buchanan of Florida, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, and Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
In response to the White House, Mullin tweeted, "Another ignorant attack from a career politician who has never created a single job. 74 days before midterms, Joe Biden is targeting business owners for protecting their employees from government lockdowns. President Trump always supported American workers and job creators."
The White House also retweeted a post in which Matt Gaetz of Florida appeared to ridicule the idea of the U.S. shelling out billions more to aid Ukraine — "Congressman Matt Gaetz had $482,321 in PPP loans forgiven," the White House tweet declared.
\u201cCongressman Matt Gaetz had $482,321 in PPP loans forgiven.\n\nhttps://t.co/XPgC0pETkp\u201d— The White House (@The White House) 1661463234
"So it is now the White House's position that if the government forces you to shut down your business and provides you just compensation to keep people employed, that's the same thing as you failing to pay the college loans you voluntarily undertook. Geniuses," tweeted conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, editor emeritus of the Daily Wire. "As long as the White House is targeting businessowners who were locked down and who used PPP to pay their employees, let's find out how many top Democrats have student loans they're about to pay off with your money," he added in another post.
Jonah Goldberg, editor in chief of the Dispatch, tweeted, "The @WhiteHouse is going all in comparing PPP loan forgiveness to student debt forgiveness. It’s a terrible analogy because A) PPP loans were designed to be forgiven if conditions met & B) They were designed **by Congress.** What Biden is doing is lawless fiat *and* bad policy."
Leon Wolf, managing editor of TheBlaze, tweeted, "Loans made by the government to bail out businesses that were forced by the government to temporarily close their doors are not the same as student loans, thank you for coming to my TED Talk."
\u201cLoans made by the government to bail out businesses that were forced by the government to temporarily close their doors are not the same as student loans, thank you for coming to my TED Talk\u201d— Leon Wolf \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Leon Wolf \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1661466538
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