Federal Indictment Charges April Watson With COVID Relief Fraud
A federal grand jury in North Texas indicted 50-year-old April Watson on a 10-count federal indictment for allegedly orchestrating a $680,000 scheme to defraud pandemic emergency relief programs, [dallasnews.com] reported. According to the prosecution, four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and four counts of money laundering have been brought against Watson, who also goes by April Watson Horton and April Shawnette Watson.
Fraudulent Loans Secured From Multiple Lenders
Between April 2020 and October 2021, Watson allegedly participated in a fraud scheme to secure Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster loans authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Court records show that Watson filed applications representing several businesses under her ownership and management, namely Exotic Bliss Beauty LLC, Brain Evolution LLC, and Southern Home Ventures, LLC. To secure the funds, she allegedly submitted false payroll summaries and fabricated Internal Revenue Service documents, including W-2 and W-3 forms purportedly prepared by an outside payroll company. Investigators revealed that no payroll forms were ever generated by the company and that the businesses failed to file business tax returns with the IRS for 2019 or 2020. Through these submissions, Watson reportedly obtained $210,698 in PPP loans distributed by Kabbage Inc., alongside $299,800 in EIDL money sourced straight from the U.S. Small Business Administration, and $169,994 in extra PPP financing from JPMorgan Chase, [fox4news.com] and [cbsnews.com] reported.
A federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against North Texas woman April Watson, also known as “April Watson Horton” and “April Shawnette Watson,” for alleged wire fraud, bank fraud engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity…
Cedar Hill Home Construction Funded by Illicit Proceeds
Following the disbursement of the loans, Watson allegedly transferred over $114,000 to put toward construction on a personal residence in Cedar Hill, Texas, and wired $40,000 to an individual associate, [fox4news.com] and [cbsnews.com] reported. The federal government is currently seeking the forfeiture of the Cedar Hill residential property, alongside a monetary judgment covering the full amount of the fraud proceeds. “Emergency relief programs were enacted as a vital lifeline to keep struggling businesses afloat during the pandemic—not to subsidize private home construction and luxury purchases,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas said in a statement. Christopher J. Altemus Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Texas Field Office, added that criminals stole money meant to keep honest businesses operational.
Initial Court Appearance and Potential Prison Sentences
Watson made her initial court appearance on Oct. 23, [fox4news.com] reported. Working as a unit of the Dallas El Dorado Task Force, the Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation divisions carried out the probe, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Elise Aldendifer handles the prosecution. If convicted, Watson faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud, up to 30 years for each count of bank fraud, and up to 10 years for each count of unlawful monetary transactions. As of Monday, no further court dates have been scheduled.
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