MIAMI, FL. June 2, 2021 – Latoya Stanley, 38, and Johnny Philus, 33 – a couple from Miami, Florida – were sentenced to Federal Prison today for perpetrating a scheme to file four falsified loan applications to obtain over $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Stanley and Philus have been sentenced to 18 and 30 months in prison, respectively, as they both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on March 8.
As per the court documents, Philus stated on his PPP loan application that he employed 29 individuals at his firm ‘Elegance Auto Boutique LLC’. Similarly, Stanley’s PPP loan application showed that she employed 18 individuals at her company ‘Dream Gurl Beauty Supply LLC’. In reality, both of them did not employ anyone at their respective businesses.
Stanley and Philus also lied about the number of employees and revenue generated by their businesses, on their EIDL applications. On these EIDL loan applications, Philus wrongfully claimed to generate $400,000 in income and to employ 10 people from a farm located in the yard of a small residential home whereas, Stanley claimed to generate over $800,000 in income and to employ five people from a farm-based in the yard of her Miami home. They both admitted to working together to effectuate the fraud and receiving funds of over $1 million through fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications.
The said case was investigated by SBA’s Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Miami Division and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and prosecutor attorney is Trial Attorney Louis Manzo of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
