A 37-year-old South Bend woman was ordered to pay more than $50,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to a scheme in which she fraudulently received federal pandemic aid.
Rachael Robinson was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to a federal felony of wire fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. She was ordered to pay $55,280.47 in restitution.
Authorities say that in February and April 2021 she submitted two fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program relief funds for a business that did not exist. The PPP program was designed to approve loans to small businesses for job retention and other expenses amid the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robinson received about $50,000 in PPP funds, which she used for her own benefit rather than for any legitimate purpose, the DOJ said in a news release.
Her sentencing comes three weeks after another South Bend woman was found guilty of a similar Paycheck Protection Program scheme.
Tonya R. Winston, 59, was found guilty after a three-day jury trial of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of theft of government money, according to the DOJ.
Authorities say she fraudulently obtained loans through the COVID-19 pandemic relief program and helped others to do the same.
Whether the two cases are related is unclear.
A June 2023 report by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General estimates that more than $200 billion in PPP and other federal assistance loans were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors, nearly a fifth of all such federal aid disbursed. As of May 2023, nearly $30 billion had been recovered following 1,011 indictments, 803 arrests and 529 convictions.