Miami, Loxahatchee residents indicted for $1.3m PPP fraud

MIAMI, Fla. — Four South Florida residents have been indicted over allegations that they committed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and mortgage fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

Raisha Kelly, 43, and Widny Thibaud, 44, of Loxahatchee, and Cortira Gray, 33, and Ann Gilchrist, 55, of Miami, have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with their alleged submission of false and fraudulent PPP loan applications.

According to allegations in the indictment and statements made in open court, Kelly, Thibaud, Gray, and Gilchrist conspired with themselves and others to submit PPP loan applications and submitted and caused the submission of fraudulent PPP and EIDL loan applications on behalf of themselves and corporate entities that they controlled.

Ms Kelly, in return for the payment of kickbacks, reportedly submitted and caused the submission of false and fraudulent PPP loan applications for Gilchrist, Gray, and others.

Kelly, Thibaud, Gray, and Gilchrist allegedly submitted and caused the submission of false and fraudulent information and documentation supporting the PPP loan applications. These reportedly included falsified Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms that, among other things, falsely and fraudulently represented the annual gross receipts and tentative profits of the sole proprietorships and corporate entities they controlled.

According to prosecutors, this conspiracy caused PPP lenders to make approximately $1.3 million in loans to Kelly, Thibaud, Gray, Gilchrist, and their co-conspirators.

According to allegations, during the commission of the conspiracy, Ms Gray was an employee of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and Ms Gilchrist was an employee of the Miami-Dade Transit Department.

Mr Thibaud is also charged with a separate wire fraud scheme for allegedly submitting a false and fraudulent mortgage loan application to a mortgage lender, which resulted in his receiving a $700,000 mortgage for which he was not qualified.

Gray, Gilchrist, and Kelly had their initial appearances on March 11.  Thibaud had his initial appearance on March 12.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan Ulrich, Special Agent in Charge, USPS Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG), Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG), Investigations Division’s Eastern Region, and Special Agent in Charge Mathew Broadhurst of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Southeast Region made the announcement.

The USPS OIG, SBA OIG, and DOL-OIG investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bernstein is prosecuting it.

The charges in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.