A Kansas City resident has admitted to wire fraud after obtaining a $312,500 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan through false statements. The loan was backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
Jarrell Curne, 36, owned Hustle Ova Everything Entertainment, a Missouri limited liability company. On May 13, 2020, Curne applied for a PPP loan from U.S. Bank on behalf of his company. In his application, he claimed that Hustle had an annual payroll of $1.5 million and employed 100 people in 2019. Authorities found that the business did not have any eligible employees or payroll.
After receiving the funds on May 15, 2020, Curne certified to the Small Business Administration that he used the money for authorized business purposes so that the loan would be forgiven. Investigators determined he spent the funds on personal expenses instead.
Curne faces up to 20 years in federal prison without parole under federal statutes. The actual sentence will be decided by the court based on advisory guidelines and other legal factors following a presentence investigation conducted by the United States Probation Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul S. Becker and James Kirkpatrick are prosecuting this case, which was investigated by Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.
