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Date: 03-07-2024
Case Style:
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Judge: Greg G. Guidry
Court: The United States Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (Orleans Parish
Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office in New Orleans
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
Laplace Resident Sentenced Probation For Defrauding Cares Act Financial Assistance Program
BASHIR SCHOFIELD (SCHOFIELD), age 24, a resident of LaPlace, La., was sentenced on March 5, 2024 by United States District Judge Greg G. Guidry to 4 years’ probation, after previously pleading guilty to wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. SCHOFIELD participated in the preparation and filing of false applications for loans related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). SCHOFIELD was also ordered to pay $282,650 in restitution, jointly and severally, with two relatives, Munira Schofield and Lynn Schofield (RELATIVES), who were charged separately and to pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.
According to court documents, BASHIR SCHOFIELD, and his RELATIVES, submitted applications to fraudulently obtain money from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) loans. SCHOFIELD and his RELATIVES submitted loan applications falsely representing that the applicant had a sole proprietorship and generated substantial income from that business. The false representations included, overinflating the business’s gross receipts, and claiming the loan proceeds were for business purposes when, in fact, the proceeds were for the defendants’ personal purposes. Indeed, the entities either did not even exist or earned far less money than SCHOFIELD and his RELATIVES represented.
For example, on about April 14, 2021, SCHOFIELD completed and submitted a false PPP loan application in the name of an entity he claimed to control, “Vison Six, LLC.” SCHOFIELD falsely stated in the application that his gross income from Vison Six in 2019 was $100,000 and that the money would be used for business-related purposes. In fact, Vison Six was not incorporated until November 2020, performed no business, and had no gross receipts in 2019. As a result of the fraudulent application, SCHOFIELD received approximately $20,833. Additionally, SCHOFIELD and his RELATIVES collectively submitted false applications for several other entities, including “AfroTouch, Inc.,” “Afromerica Touch 360, LLC,” and “Just Jocin.”
For more information on the Department of Justice’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, was in charge of the prosecution
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Defendant's Experts:
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