Five CT residents indicted in small business loan fraud case
A federal grand jury in New Haven has returned a 20-count indictment charging five people with fraud over small business loan applications in Connecticut and Washington state.
Mycall Obas, Pierre Obas and Mbali Ncube of Danbury, Teresa Vargas of Hartford and Stephen Walker of New Canaan have been arrested and each has entered a plea of not guilty.
It is alleged that the co-conspirators applied for and obtained 12 loans totaling more than $2 million.
Four of the five are accused of using stolen or false identities to apply to the National Development Council for small business loans through the CT Boost program run by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and through the Flex program run by the Washington State Department of Commerce.
Vargas, who was a contractor for NDC and responsible for processing and underwriting small business loan applications, is accused of processing some of the fraudulent loan applications and submitting them to NDC for approval.
She also requested to be the loan processor on certain loan applications submitted by her co-conspirators allegedly in order to further the scheme.
The indictment charges each of the five defendants with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and multiple counts of wire fraud.
Each of these charges carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
The indictment also charges each of the five defendants with one or more counts of making illegal monetary transactions, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on each count.
Mycall Obas and Pierre Obas are also charged with aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory term of imprisonment of two years.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, and the Meriden and Danbury Police Departments.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments