Business Owner Ordered To Repay $425,000 In Bankruptcy Fraud Case

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A Raleigh business owner has been sentenced to federal prison after admitting she concealed hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets during bankruptcy proceedings involving her paving company.

Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II sentenced Tracey Dixon Perry, 51, to 16 months in federal prison, followed by 12 months of home confinement and two years of supervised release. Perry was also ordered to pay $425,146 in restitution.

According to federal prosecutors, Perry owned and operated Dixon Paving, Inc., an asphalt milling and paving company based in Raleigh. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2020.

Court records show the bankruptcy court required the business to deposit all company revenue into court-approved debtor-in-possession bank accounts while the case was pending. Investigators said Perry instead opened secret bank accounts and diverted company payments into those accounts without notifying the bankruptcy court.

Prosecutors said Perry also failed to disclose the accounts when filing bankruptcy documents signed under penalty of perjury and later falsely reported that all company income had been deposited into the approved bankruptcy accounts.

Federal authorities said Perry further concealed a $183,500 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan by falsely indicating on the loan application that the company was not involved in an active bankruptcy case. Investigators also alleged she hid an additional loan obtained through the federal Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program from the bankruptcy court.

U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said Perry manipulated a system intended to help struggling businesses.

“This individual meticulously and purposefully hid her greedy milking from the U.S. government. She pocketed hundreds of thousands of ill-gotten dollars, exploiting a system that exists to help relieve companies in times of economic need,” Boyle said.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General with assistance from the Office of the U.S. Bankruptcy Administrator for the Eastern District of North Carolina.