Louisiana woman defrauded government for $1.1 million via Paycheck Protection Program

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A Baton Rouge woman has admitted to fraudulently taking $1 million from federal programs meant to keep businesses afloat during shutdowns caused by COVID, federal prosecutors announced Monday.

Tiera Lands pleaded guilty to counts of wire fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney's office for Louisiana's Middle District said in a news release Monday. She acknowledged she put false information on several Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications she submitted in 2020 and 2021, the release says.

According to the release, Lands owned several businesses in the city when she began filing for the COVID-19 relief loans in March 2020. She lied on an application for her own credit counseling business, Virtuous Credit Solutions, then submitted fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications in three other businesses' names, investigators said. The U.S. Small Business Administration doled out $750,000 in EIDL loan funds to Lands.

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All told, Lands cleared more than $1.1 million with her scam, prosecutors said.

She admitted hiding the source of the funds when she deposited the loans into her business accounts so as not to raise suspicions and trigger transaction reporting requirements. Attorneys for the government noted one instance in July 2020 when Lands deposited $5,900 into the account then made another $5,100 cash deposit two minutes later. Tens days after that incident, Lands made five separate deposits totaling $11,000 within a 92-minute span.

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