2 Westchester Men Were Part Of A $14.7M Pandemic Relief Loan Scam: FBI

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Two Sound Shore men are facing federal charges in connection to a massive pandemic relief fund scam.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY, Damian Williams, and the Assistant Director in Charge of the NY Field Office of the FBI, Michael J. Driscoll, announced on Tuesday the unsealing of a complaint charging Glenroy Walker, of New Rochelle, and Gary Wheeler, of Mount Vernon, along with Howard Levy, Sherril Baez, Norma Getten, and Donnat Powell, with conspiring to commit wire fraud by submitting fraudulent applications for loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Walker and Levy are also charged with aggravated identity theft. The defendants were arrested Tuesday morning and were presented that afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy in White Plains federal court.

"As alleged, the defendants schemed to steal millions of dollars from a program Congress created to help struggling small businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic," Williams said. "As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, this Office will pursue and prosecute the fraudsters that took advantage of a global emergency to greedily line their own pockets."

According to court documents, between July 2020 and February 2022, Walker and Levy submitted more than 100 fraudulent applications for loans from the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program. This program was created by Congress to provide billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses struggling to fund payroll and certain other qualifying business expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As alleged, the defendants conspired to fraudulently obtain more than $14 million from the Paycheck Protection Program through applications containing sham documents," Driscoll said. "This unfortunately is another example of individuals attempting to scam a program that was designed to help Americans during unprecedented upheaval. Ensuring that fraudsters who abused the Paycheck Protection Program are brought to justice remains a priority for the FBI."

The PPP applications Walker and Levy submitted often contained phony bank statements and tax documents, officials said. The document contends that Baez, Getten, Powell, and Wheeler also participated in the submission of fraudulent applications for their own purported businesses and recruited other prospective fraudulent PPP applicants into the scheme. Walker and Levy received kickbacks from the applicants, including Baez, Getten, Powell, and Wheeler, and shared portions of their kickbacks with recruiters, including some of the defendants, according to the FBI.

The fraudulent applications submitted by the six defendants sought more than $14.7 million in loans in total and resulted in the disbursement of over $4.6 million from various financial institutions, all backed by the SBA, according to investigators.

Walker, 65, Levy, 60, of the Bronx, Baez, 50, of Freeport, Getten, 62, of the Bronx, Powell, 48, of Paterson, NJ, and Wheeler, 46, are each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. This charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

Walker and Levy are also charged with a count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence.

Williams praised the work of the FBI.

The prosecution is being handled by the office’s White Plains division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Hoffman and Derek Wikstrom are in charge of the prosecution.