Pair of Northern Virginia males plead responsible to $7 million COVID-19 aid fraud scheme

A pair of Northern Virginia males pleaded responsible Friday to a $7 million COVID-19 aid fund fraud scheme.

From April 2020 to March 2021, Ben Magee, 54, of Manassas, Virginia, created false payrolls and faux tax returns for his companies, in addition to falsified income reviews submitted to lenders and the Small Business Administration.

Magee used the false data to get $7 million in Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster loans for each himself and others. Michael Gilcher, 45, of Bealeton, Virginia, was considered one of these beneficiaries.

Gilcher, an worker of Magee’s at Infinity Solutions, obtained $1.4 million, however then wrote checks value $620,000 again to a different Magee-controlled firm, Bull Run Capital Investments.

Using the PPP funds, Magee paid for private bills, dwelling repairs, vehicles, and cryptocurrency investments.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia didn’t specify which costs every man confronted, however famous that Magee faces a most sentence of 20 years in jail, whereas Gilcher faces a most sentence of 5 years in jail.

The pair are scheduled to every be sentenced on Aug. 25.

For extra data, go to The Washington Times COVID-19 useful resource web page.