Miami, FL – Raisha Kelly, 44, from Loxahatchee, has been sentenced to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for her role in a wire fraud scheme involving the Payment Protection Program (PPP). Additionally, she must pay $443,895 in restitution, as ordered by the U.S. District Court.
Kelly was convicted of conspiring with others to submit fraudulent PPP loan applications, falsely claiming that the applicants owned sole proprietorship businesses with inflated revenues. To support these claims, she submitted falsified tax returns. In exchange for her services, Kelly received a 25% kickback from the loan recipients. She used fake email accounts to hide her involvement in the scheme and also filed fraudulent PPP applications for her own business. The court found that Kelly profited approximately $106,649 from the conspiracy, which involved 13 individuals.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Bernstein, Eduardo Gardea Jr., and Gabrielle Charest-Turken.
This case is part of a broader effort to combat COVID-19-related financial fraud. The CARES Act, enacted in March 2020, aimed to provide financial relief to those affected by the pandemic, including through the PPP loans. In May 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to enhance efforts against pandemic-related fraud.
The Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office was chosen in September 2022 to lead one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams, focusing on preventing and prosecuting financial fraud related to the pandemic.
Anyone with information on COVID-19 fraud can report it to the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or through their online complaint form. For more details on the Department of Justice’s response to the pandemic, visit their website.
