RGV residents face 20 years for COVID-19 loan fraud scheme

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Five Rio Grande Valley residents have been indicted for wire fraud in a scheme involving the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, according to U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Sandra Pope Solis, 60, from Rancho Viejo, and Lesley Chavez, 42, from Edinburg, the final two arrested, went before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker.

Rolando Santiago Benitez, 51, from Harlingen, Bernardo Gomez Jr., 46, from Edinburg, and Edgar De La Garza, 45, from Brownsville, had previously made their appearances in federal court.

An eight-count indictment returned on Aug. 5 showed all five individuals submitted fraudulent loan applications to obtain EIDL and/or PPP loans through the Small Business Administration (SBA).

The charges claim these loan programs were intended to alleviate economic injury the COVID-19 pandemic caused, allowing small businesses to continue to make payroll and other business-related payments.

From June 2020 through November 2021, the five submitted applications for loans that the SBA sponsored, according to the charges.

As part of the scheme, they allegedly helped alter or create falsified tax and related business documents to inflate the approvable loan amount. The indictment alleges these documents were then submitted with the applications. Once the loans were approved, each then allegedly used the fraudulently obtained proceeds for personal expenses.

The scheme resulted in a total loss of $685,800, as stated by the charges.

If convicted, all five face up to 20 years in prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.