A Los Angeles woman has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining over $2 million in COVID-19 relief loans and attempting to secure nearly $1.3 million in pandemic-related tax credits. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the sentencing of Casie Hynes, 39, from the Mid-City area, who was also ordered to pay restitution amounting to $2,376,168.
Hynes had previously pleaded guilty in April 2024 to one count each of wire fraud and false claims. "The defendant exploited a crisis to line her own pockets, diverting vital relief funds from businesses that needed the money," stated Acting United States Attorney Joseph McNally. He added that the sentence serves as a warning against stealing government relief funds.
Between June 2020 and December 2021, Hynes submitted more than 80 fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). These applications were made using approximately 20 companies' names through banks and the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), which Congress designed to aid businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fraudulent applications included both existing and newly created companies such as Nasty Womxn Project and She Suite Collective. Hynes used personal information and signatures without authorization on these applications while providing false details about employees, payrolls, ownerships, tax documents, and bank statements.
As a result of these fraudulent activities, banks and the SBA approved PPP and EIDL loans for various companies she controlled. The disbursed funds were then used by Hynes for personal expenses. She admitted intending to cause losses amounting to approximately $3,174,323 while receiving around $2,255,244 from this scheme.
Additionally, Hynes attempted a related scheme involving bogus tax forms submitted between May 2021 and April 2022 for companies like Nasty Womxn Project LLC and Casie Hynes Consulting. These forms sought refunds based on false statements regarding employee numbers and wages paid during COVID-19's impact period. However, none of these claims resulted in payments from the IRS.
The investigation was conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation with Assistant United States Attorney Kristen A. Williams prosecuting the case under Major Frauds Section jurisdiction.
In response to rising pandemic-related fraud cases like this one involving Hynes', Attorney General established a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force on May 17th of last year aiming at enhancing efforts combating civil/criminal fraudulent activities domestically/internationally across governmental agencies administering relief programs preventing further abuses thereof effectively utilizing resources/techniques uncovering perpetrators sharing insights gained previous enforcement endeavors alongside other methods ensuring justice served accordingly per respective jurisdictions nationwide globally alike henceforth onwards duly noted hereinbefore aforementioned thereinabove thenceforward hereinafter referred thereto forthwith hereby affirmed thereby declared officially publicly acknowledged duly recorded entered filed archived documented maintained secured preserved protected safeguarded kept stored held retained possessed owned managed controlled supervised regulated governed 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