On Thursday, Ivory Hill, 44, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to a federal felony for wire fraud, announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.
Hill was sentenced to 24 months’ probation, including 10 months of location monitoring, and ordered to pay $23,332.00 in restitution to the victim of the offence.
According to documents in the case, Hill falsely claimed gross income for a business that did not exist when he applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan.
The PPP program was designed to approve loans to small businesses for job retention and other expenses as part of the CARES Act, which provided emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, Hill falsely claimed he was the sole proprietor of an auto sales business when, in reality, no such business existed. Hill also fraudulently claimed his business had approximately $102,000 in gross income in 2020.
As a result of his fraudulent representations, Hill received $20,832 in PPP funds, which he used for his own benefit on personal items such as electronics, apparel, and car rentals, and to vacation in Miami, Florida, rather than for any legitimately approved purpose.
