JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 30-year-old Jacksonville woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to several charges including wire fraud involving the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to the Department of Justice.
According to the DOJ, Carnisha Maurica Rogers pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of false representation of a Social Security number (SSN) involving a line of credit scheme, and one count of wire fraud involving COVID relief fraud through the PPP.
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According to court documents, Rogers and her co-conspirators fraudulently obtained other people’s Social Security numbers.
DOJ said from November 2017 through September 2019, Rogers and others recruited people to get lines of credit at various businesses using the SSNs. After fraudulently obtaining the lines of credit, they obtained jewelry and other merchandise.
Rogers and her co-conspirators then resold some of the merchandise and lines of credit on social media platforms, officials said.
In May 2021, Rogers submitted a PPP loan application to a lender authorized by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to lend funds for approved PPP loan applications. But the DOJ said that Rogers’ application “falsely claimed” that she operated her own business.
In support of her PPP loan application, officials said Rogers submitted a false IRS Form 1040 that contained false statements about operating expenses, gross income, and wage expenditures for her purported business.
In reliance on the false statements in her loan application, her application was approved, and she received a PPP loan totaling $20,832. She then began making withdrawals and spending the money on personal expenses.
The DOJ said it later discovered Rogers’ business did not exist.
In October 2021, Rogers submitted a PPP loan forgiveness application to the SBA that included multiple false representations. In the application, she falsely claimed that she spent more than $18,000 on payroll costs and that the PPP loan proceeds were only used for eligible purposes. In reliance on her false statements, the SBA forgave the entire loan, plus accrued interest.
Rogers was federally indicted on the four charges in October 2024.
Rogers faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each wire fraud count, up to 5 years on the false representation of an SSN count, and payment of restitution to the government and the victims she defrauded.
She also agreed to forfeit $20,832, which was the total of the PPP loan she received.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.