Palm Beach County man’s lavish lifestyle funded by COVID relief fraud: USAO

MIAMI, Fla. — A Florida man has been sentenced to prison for COVID-19 relief fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO) announced.

Gregory Scott Keough, 57, of Wellington, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for submitting fraudulent loan applications seeking approximately $2 million in forgivable Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, said the USAO. These loans are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

After obtaining the fraudulent loan proceeds, Mr. Keough transferred some of it to other bank accounts, paid multiple credit cards, and used it to purchase and install storm windows for his home, private jet travel, and private school tuition, prosecutors said.

According to the USAO, from March 2020 to Aug. 2020, Mr. Keough and conspirator Derek Acree, an attorney, submitted one fraudulent EIDL application and three fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of entities they both controlled.

Mr. Keough was reportedly responsible for approximately $1,612,222 of the funded loans.

Mr. Keough individually submitted four additional false loan applications on behalf of companies he controlled as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Two of those applications were funded, and Mr. Keough received $309,555 in CARES Act proceeds.

These companies included National Financial Holdings Inc., NFH Florida LLC, DBA Finova Financial LLC, NFH Partners LLC, Grupo Keough LLC, Enclave Partners LLC, and National Financial Holding Technology LLC. The USAO said the loans misrepresented the number of employees, payroll expenses, and gross revenues.

Mr. Keough entered a guilty plea to two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in Nov. 2023. In addition to prison, Mr. Keough was ordered to pay $1,922,355 million in restitution.

He was sentenced on February 8, 2024.

Mr. Acree was charged separately and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October 2022. Mr. Acree was sentenced in January 2023 to 41 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,262,600 million in restitution.

Both Mr. Acree and Mr. Keough jointly paid the full amount of restitution.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI West Palm Beach investigated the case. The Office of State Attorney Dave Aronberg for the 15th Judicial Circuit—Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office PPP Fraud Task Force provided invaluable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin W. Waugh prosecuted it, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Pastor handled asset forfeiture.