RALEIGH — A Snow Hill man has been indicted on charges he obtained nearly $1 million from the U.S. government by submitting fraudulent applications to secure COVID-19 business loans.
Tyreek Rasheed Exum, 25, of Snow Hill, and Anthony Wandland Jr., 30, of Chicago, Illinois allegedly conspired to use over 20 stolen identities and the identities of co-conspirators to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported last week.
A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment charging the men with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Michael Easley of the Eastern District of North Carolina.
“The pandemic is long over, but we won’t quit in our mission to run down stolen taxpayer money and ensure the integrity of federal relief programs,” Easley said in the March 21 announcement. “Those who committed COVID-19 fraud should know — we’re well-resourced and we’re still coming.”
“Schemes to fraudulently obtain federal funds meant to provide assistance to small businesses is unacceptable,” said Donald “Trey” Eakins, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge. “Our field office continues to follow the evidence of crimes committed to obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loans and other COVID-19 funds intended for struggling businesses needing assistance during the pandemic and bring them to justice.”
The indictment alleges that Wandland provided Exum with stolen identities, Exum applied for and obtained the loans and gave Wandland a percentage of the proceeds, Easley’s office said. Each loan application submitted by Exum allegedly contain false statements, misrepresentations and omissions related to income, employment, and claimed business entities.
Exum is alleged to have signed financial documents, including loan and security agreements, in the names of those stolen identities and then had the loan proceeds deposited into his personal bank account, nominee bank accounts, bank accounts of family and friends and into accounts in the names of stolen identities.
He is alleged to have exercised control over the accounts by obtaining bank debit cards and by causing nominees to transfer the fraud proceeds to other accounts controlled by him via various digital mediums such as PayPal and CashApp. Exum allegedly withdrew the cash at multiple ATMs.
In total, the indictment alleges Exum received nearly $1 million in fraudulent loan proceeds. If found guilty, Wandland and Exum face a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.
Easley made the announcement after U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones Jr. accepted the plea. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and Explosives, and the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office are leading the investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa K. Labresh is prosecuting the case.
On May 17, 2021, the United States Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud, the March 21 release said.
The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.
The Eastern District of North Carolina’s COVID Task Force is a part of this effort to coordinate fraud-related investigations and prosecutions in Eastern North Carolina. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus
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