US authorities have sentenced Sean M. Andre, a former Special Inspector for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City, to 30 months in jail for conspiring to fraudulently obtain over $5.6 million from the US government’s COVID-19 relief funds.
In May 2021, Andre pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. He helped his co-conspirator Jean R. Lavanture to obtain $4,309,581 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans in 2020. To this end, Andre submitted fraudulent loan applications on behalf of four companies that Lavanture controlled. In these applications, he deliberately reported incorrect information about the number of employees and total payroll. He also submitted false tax documents with these applications. In return for his part in the scheme, Andre received $157,578.
Additionally, Andre fraudulently obtained $1,309,754 in COVID-19 relief loans by submitting loan applications on behalf of companies that he controlled himself. Again, he misrepresented the number of employees and total payroll in these applications.
In addition to the prison sentence, Andre will be subject to two years of supervised release. He will also have to pay $1,309,754 in restitution to his victims, besides forfeiting $32,900 in cash, the sum of $365,613.09 in his six bank accounts, and a 2019 Mercedes Benz GLS.
Source: US Department of Justice