Update: Donna Ingram pleaded not guilty and is out on $300,000 bond that was secured by her residence as well as two suretors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office..
Brooklyn, NY — A Long Island woman has been indicted on charges of wire fraud, disaster relief fraud, and theft of public funds for her alleged involvement in a scheme to submit fraudulent applications for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The indictment against Donna Ingram, 50, of Freeport, was unsealed earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn.
According to court filings, between May 2020 and May 2021, Ingram submitted at least 27 fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of her companies and at least 22 other businesses. The applications contained false information about the businesses, including inflated revenue, exaggerated number of employees, and misstated payroll costs.
For instance, Ingram submitted two applications for one business, falsely claiming the business earned approximately $950,950 in one application and $820,000 in another for the same year. This business received two PPP loans totaling $300,000, and Ingram received approximately $50,500 in kickbacks.
The indictment says that Ingram was the owner of several companies, called Ingram Entities, through which she committed the fraud.
In a text exchange with one business owner, a client said that they had not done anything with the business that was applying for a PPP loan.
“It doesn’t matter really ..trust your judgmement [sic] … you’re the guru,” the text read.
The loan application for that business falsely stated that the business had one employee with a payroll of about $8,033 monthly. The business received a loan of $20,082.50 and the owner then paid Ingram about $4,000.
Overall, the fraudulent applications secured around $3.28 million in PPP loans, with Ingram pocketing at least $430,000 in kickbacks.
Prosecutors accuse Ingram of using loan proceeds for her own personal expenses including air travel and mortgage payments.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, emphasized that the funds were intended to help businesses survive the pandemic, not for personal gain.
“This Office will continue prosecuting those who took advantage of the COVID crisis and stole funds from vitally important government relief programs,” Peace said in a statement.
Ingram faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact law enforcement.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska.
