A California man, Craig David Davis, 49, of Venice, has pleaded responsible to wire fraud expenses within the Japanese District of Virginia. Davis admitted to defrauding a number of Coronavirus Help, Reduction, and Financial Safety (CARES) Act packages, together with the Paycheck Safety Program (PPP) and the Primary Avenue Lending Program (MSLP), of greater than $10 million.
Davis, the proprietor of Brilliant Vanguard LLC, which he falsely introduced as a professional laptop {hardware} retailer and cupboard space supplier, submitted fraudulent mortgage purposes beneath these packages in 2020. In line with courtroom paperwork, Davis falsely claimed that Brilliant Vanguard had substantial gross sales and employed as many as 17 people. In actuality, Brilliant Vanguard had no staff and generated no professional income. To help his fraudulent claims, Davis offered banks with falsified tax returns, payroll paperwork, and monetary statements.
Along with the CARES Act fraud, Davis additionally confessed to his involvement in a years-long scheme to defraud business gear lenders. This scheme concerned directing enterprise homeowners to submit mortgage purposes for buying laptop gear, supported by invoices from corporations like Brilliant Vanguard. After the lenders authorised the loans and disbursed the funds, Davis and his co-conspirators saved a portion of the proceeds whereas remitting the bulk to the debtors. No gear was truly offered, regardless of what was proven on the fraudulent invoices. This scheme resulted in over $60 million in fraudulently induced lending throughout greater than 350 separate loans.
Davis is scheduled for sentencing on December 12, 2024. He faces a most penalty of 20 years in jail. The ultimate sentence will probably be decided by a federal district courtroom choose, who will think about the U.S. Sentencing Tips and different statutory components.
The announcement of Davis’s responsible plea was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Legal professional Common Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Division’s Legal Division, and U.S. Legal professional Jessica D. Aber for the Japanese District of Virginia. The investigation was led by the Federal Deposit Insurance coverage Company Workplace of Inspector Common (FDIC OIG) Mid-Atlantic Area, the Division of the Treasury’s Particular Inspector Common for Pandemic Restoration, and IRS Legal Investigation (IRS-CI).
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Legal professional David A. Peters of the Legal Division’s Fraud Part, together with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Drew Bradylyons and Katherine Robeson for the Japanese District of Virginia, with substantial help from the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Maryland.
