WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Three Palm Beach County residents are accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $1.1 million
in COVID-19 relief funds, State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced Wednesday.
The arrests, from August through October, were made as a result of a task force by his office and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in misuse of funds from the federal Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program after the loans for small businesses became available in 2020.
Facing felony charges of organized scheme to defraud and money laundering are David Jean, 46; Lesley Jean-Louis, 36; and Marc Jean-Jacques, 71.
In the programs, small businesses received billions of dollars in forgivable loans to pay employee salaries and expenses during the onset of the pandemic.
Instead, people across the country pretended to run businesses needing help with payroll expenses, interest on mortgages, and rent and utilities.
“PPP fraudsters are being exposed one by one,” Aronberg said in a news release. “They will be held accountable for ripping off taxpayers while our country was in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. Their actions were despicable.”
Applicants claimed nonexistent employees and other false business expenses, Aronberg said.
Task force investigators have been working on more than two dozen cases referred by federal authorities and public tips, amounting to more than $12 million in fraudulent loans
The task force Tip Line is 844-324-5463.
The government gave out $790 billion in PPP loans between March 2020 and May 2021, when the program ended. Of that amount, $757 billion has been forgiven.Jun 30, 2023
In the arrest reports:
Jean, a resident near Atlantis, illegally obtained over $245,055 through the Paycheck Protection Program and falsely claimed he had 17 employees with an average monthly payroll of $98,022, according to the arrest report. His business was listed as a cellphone repair store Coastech at 1229 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach. He was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on Aug. 1.
Jean-Louis, of Boynton Beach, obtained $547,791 in loans from both programs. She allegedly had 26 employees with Tax Express LLC at 123 NW 13th Street in Boca Raton. She was booked on Oct. 18.
Jean-Jacques, of Boynton Beach, received $355,984 from PPP. MJJ Media, Inc., 1164 SW 27th Avenue, with 20 employees and a payroll of $700,000 though it allegedly had no employees. He was booked on Oct. 16.
