Six St. Louis-area residents have been accused of bilking taxpayers out of $8.3 million meant to help struggling businesses during COVID-19.
The indictment accuses the conspirators of submitting at least 40 fraudulent applications between March 2020 and December 2024 for Paycheck Protection Program loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans that yielded at least $8.3 million.
The loans were U.S. Small Business Administration programs intended to support small businesses and their workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Raymond Porter Jr., 64, of St. Louis, was indicted Wednesday on 28 felonies: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of aggravated identity theft and four counts of money laundering.
David Holmon, 54, of Olivette, was indicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, five counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of money laundering.
Monica Butler, 59, of St. Louis, was indicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud and seven counts of money laundering.
Dana Kelly, 47, and Alexander Sampson, 39, both of St. Louis, were indicted on one count of conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
Latrice Davis, 40, of St. Charles County, now faces one count of conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Three were arrested on Friday.
Porter and Holmon, with Davis’s help, prepared and submitted fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications for their own businesses and for other people’s businesses, including businesses owned by Butler, Kelly and Sampson, the indictment says. In return, Porter and Holmon typically would receive 10 percent to 20 percent of any approved loans, the indictment says, disguised as payments for equipment or consulting services. They would then pay Davis a portion of those fees, it says.
As part of the conspiracy, Porter, Holmon and/or Davis used the personal information of business owners to impersonate them during the loan application process, created fake websites and business email addresses if the businesses did not have them, used false or inflated financial and payroll figures, created fake financial documents, instructed the business owners to open business bank accounts to receive the loan proceeds and falsely claimed that the money would be used for approved purposes, the indictment says. Davis sometimes registered sham businesses with the Missouri Secretary of State’s office to aid the scheme, the indictment says.
On multiple applications, Porter, Holmon and Davis concealed the identity of the business owners to hide it from the SBA and third-party lenders, the indictment says, such as by falsely identifying family members as the businesses’ owners.
At Porter's direction, Kelly caused falsified federal tax documents to be filed with the IRS through her tax preparation business, The Firm, for some of the businesses, the indictment says. Porter and Holmon submitted fraudulent loan forgiveness applications for some of the loans, it says.
The indictment says that Porter and Holmon directly received more than $1.4 million of loan money, plus an additional $900,000 through “preparer” fees. They also obtained more than $1 million in loan money for Butler, nearly $400,000 in loan money for Kelly and Sampson, and more than $95,000 in loan money for Davis.
The conspirators used the money to buy vehicles, make personal payments to themselves, pay personal debts and bills, fund home renovations, buy designer merchandise, and cover expenses of businesses other than the ones to which the money was lent, the indictment says.
“Since 2020, IRS-Criminal Investigation has investigated thousands of instances of alleged waste, fraud and abuse of CARES Act programs,” said St. Louis Field Office Special Agent in Charge William Steenson. “These programs were meant to provide economic stability to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. When someone uses fraudulent means to gain access to government funds they’re not entitled to, we take that very seriously and will investigate the allegations to the fullest extent to bring the fraudsters to justice.”
Charges outlined in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
“The alleged scheme involved submitting fraudulent loan applications on behalf of others as a paid service,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “The perpetrators allegedly submitted dozens of false loan documents to bilk millions of dollars from the taxpayer-funded pandemic relief programs.”
The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
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