Wilson Business Owner Latest To Be Sentenced In COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

RALEIGH – Isaac Lamont Dawson, 45, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Act (“PPP”) COVID-19 loans on behalf of two separate businesses he owned. Dawson, from Wilson, NC, is the seventh defendant to be sentenced for his role in the scheme, and he has received the longest sentence so far.

To date, 16 defendants have plead guilty to this scheme in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Sentencing is pending for the remaining nine.

“Stealing taxpayer money intended to help struggling businesses during a pandemic is shameless,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “We will continue to hold accountable those who criminally took advantage of our country in its time of need.”

According to the filed charges and information summarized in court, Dawson conspired with Edward Whitaker, Schunda Coleman, and others to obtain fraudulent PPP loans on behalf of their businesses. Dawson’s businesses included a construction company and a holding company. Whitaker and Coleman pled guilty on January 19, 2023 for their role in operating a nation-wide scheme to help people across the country commit millions of dollars of PPP fraud from their home in Texas.

Whitaker and Coleman created fraudulent supporting documents and applications for each PPP loan in exchange for 25% of the total loan proceeds. The fraudulent applications falsified the number of employees and gross wages being paid prior to the COVID-19 pandemic by backdating fraudulent IRS Forms 940 and 941, in order to help qualify for the PPP loans.

Following the disbursement of the PPP loans, Whitaker gave each defendant, via text messages subsequently obtained by law enforcement, detailed instructions as to how to make it appear that the PPP loans were being paid out to employees. In reality, most or all of the money was transferred back to the defendants. The fraudulent payroll records were then submitted to the Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain 100 percent loan forgiveness.

Late last year, Quentin Jackson pled guilty in the same conspiracy which included the recruitment of numerous individuals within the Eastern District of North Carolina to use Whitaker and Coleman to obtain fraudulent PPP funds.

“The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to help small businesses facing financial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Donald “Trey” Eakins, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge in the Charlotte Field Office. “Through our partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal law enforcement partners, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agents will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who try to exploit federal relief programs for their personal gain.”

Defendants that have been sentenced so far include:

Shakeerah Kaneisha Yvette Vinson
Monica Faye Barnes
Terron Cortez Parker
Kami D. Woodard
Eugene Miller, Jr.
Jonathan Fleming

All but Fleming received sentences of 12 months plus one day. Fleming received a 15- month prison sentence.

Defendants awaiting sentencing include:

Quentin Jackson
Edward Whitaker
Schunda Coleman
Nekita Hooks
Denise Alston
Dontrell Barnes
Lenille Woodard
Irene Edwards
Jackson Ndoyo

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who were economically suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act and additional appropriations authorized up to $649 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Financial institutions issued the PPP loans, which were guaranteed by the SBA.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III announced the sentence. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Beraka is prosecuting the case.