A Houston woman has been sentenced to federal prison for her involvement in a wire fraud conspiracy amounting to approximately $620,000 in losses, according to U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. Cora Chantail Custard, aged 35, who lived in both Houston and San Antonio during the course of the conspiracy, pleaded guilty on September 17, 2024.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced Custard to 57 months of federal imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, she was ordered to pay $621,388 in restitution. The court emphasized the sophisticated methods Custard employed via social media to promote her fraudulent services to the U.S. government and seven state agencies.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, Custard collaborated with others to file false and fraudulent loan applications for financial aid, both personally and for others. She admitted during her plea to using her Facebook account to market her services for filing fraudulent disaster relief applications, referring to the process as “doing apps.” Her scheme promised between $6,000 and $8,000 per application, processed within four to seven days.
Custard submitted or orchestrated over 100 deceitful Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications, with at least 36 resulting in advance payments of $345,000. She also filed at least 30 fraudulent Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster assistance applications related to Hurricanes Laura and Sally in 2020, with payouts from at least 16 applications totaling about $75,000.
Moreover, Custard was involved in filing more than 100 false unemployment insurance applications across Michigan, Illinois, and other states for her financial gain and that of others. At least 20 of these led to payments totaling approximately $200,000.
Custard was taken into custody following the sentencing. The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security-Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Social Security Administration-OIG, Small Business Administration-OIG, and Department of Labor-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen M. Lansden.