Harvey man pleads guilty in multi-million-dollar PPP loan fraud case

HARVEY, La. ( WGNO ) — A Harvey man has pled guilty in a multi-million-dollar scheme involving Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 57-year-old Richard Hebert Jr. pled guilty to making a false statement to a bank in connection with his filing of numerous false and fraudulent PPP loan applications.

Court documents noted that between April and July 2020, Hebert submitted 12 fraudulent PPP loan applications for seven companies to five different banks in an attempt to collect more than the $3.4 million given in PPP Loans.

Additionally, Hebert reportedly owned and operated several businesses including:

• Brookland Realty, LLC
• Interstate Construction and Demolition Group, Inc.
• K-Bear Investments, LLC
• Hebert Real Estate Holdings, LLC
• Interstate Construction Group, Inc.
• Albritton Home Construction Group, Inc.
• R&M Builders and Real Estate, LLC

On the application, according to court documents, Hebert reportedly falsely inflated each business’s average monthly payroll and number of employees to get a larger loan payout.

False tax forms and other documentation were also submitted to support the applications. As a result, more than $2.2 million in pandemic funds were paid out.

Over the investigation is the United States Secret Service and the United States Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General.

Anyone with information about allegations of pandemic fraud is asked to call the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fund Hotline at 866-720-5721.

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