Hudson Valley Man Among Civil Servants Nabbed In COVID Relief Con: DOJ

WEST NYACK, NY — A Hudson Valley man is among 19 New York State and New York City workers accused of attempting to scam the government of more than $1.5 million in total.

Edwin Skepple of West Nyack was named in the complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The 40-year-old is charged with wire fraud for submitting fraudulent loans under the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan ("EIDL") program and/or Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP"), according to federal prosecutors. If convicted, the federal charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Eighteen other state and city employees were also charged in the coordinated fraud, according to the complaint unsealed today.

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Thomas M. Fattorusso, Special Agent in Charge of the NY Field Office of the IRS, Criminal Investigation and Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, Eastern Region Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General, announced the unsealing of the complaint charging Rodney Smith, Denise Gant, Ebony Simon, Phya Scott, Priscilla Jackson, Sharon Charles, Yolanda Lawrence, Yolanda Ratcliff and Zhane Ratcliff with conspiring to commit wire fraud by submitting fraudulent SBA loan applications, as well as complaints charging Brandon Boyle, Delilah Cummings, Vashawn Foreman, Trevor Gordon, Dione Hall, Toni McCullough, Jarod Ottley, Ronette Short, Skepple and Walter Susswell individually with wire fraud for submitting fraudulent loans under the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan ("EIDL") program and/or its Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP").

"Scheming to steal Government funds intended to help small businesses weather a national emergency is offensive," Williams said in a statement announcing the charges. "And, as public employees, these folks should have known better. This Office will continue to prosecute those who use fraud to line their pockets with taxpayer money."

According to court documents, Smith, Gant, Simon, Scott, Jackson, Charles, Lawrence, Ratcliff and Ratcliff, along with others, conspired to obtain fraudulent SBA loans. Gant, Simon, Scott, Yolanda Ratcliff and Zhane Ratcliff were each employees of the NYPD; Lawrence was an employee of the NYC Human Resources Administration; Jackson was an employee of the Metropolitan Transit Authority; and Charles was an employee of a non-profit organization in NYC.

During the summer of 2020, they conspired with Smith and others to submit fraudulent loan applications to the SBA’s EIDL program. The fraudulent loan applications made false claims about gross revenues and number of employees, and many of the applications claimed that the defendants operated hair and nail salons. Many of the defendants paid kickbacks to Smith and/or other conspiracy members after their fraudulent loans were funded.

Boyle, Cummings, Foreman, Gordon, Hall, McCullough, Ottley, Short, Skepple and Susswell each submitted one or more fraudulent applications for loans under the SBA’s PPP and/or EIDL program. Boyle and Susswell worked for the NYPD; Cummings, McCullough, and Foreman worked for the NYC Department of Education. Skepple worked for the NYC Department of Corrections. Gordon had recently retired from the NYC Department of Corrections. Ottley worked for the NYC Department of Transportation and Short worked for the NYC Administration for Children’s Services.

"It is especially egregious when individuals that hold positions of public trust engage in criminal activity," SBA-OIG Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite said. "OIG is committed to rooting out bad actors and protecting the integrity of SBA programs. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and pursuit of justice."

Frequently, the applications, which were submitted at various times in 2020, were on behalf of purported sole proprietorships in the defendants’ names. In support of their fraudulent loan applications, the defendants claimed six-figure gross revenues for businesses that actually earned far less, if they actually existed at all. Many defendants claimed employees that they did not actually have, and many spent the proceeds of their loans on personal expenses, including gambling at casinos, online gambling, personal stock investments, home furniture and electronics, and luxury clothing items.

The defendants collectively stole more than $1.5 million from the SBA and financial institutions that issued SBA-guaranteed loans and intended or attempted to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars more.

"[All] of those arrested today are civil servants, NYPD employees, and a Captain for the Department of Corrections," IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Fattorusso said. "These are individuals who held positions of trust and had strong, stable jobs while so many people struggled during the pandemic. The message that these arrests are sending should be a clear one. Nobody is above the law and while the pandemic has receded from the headlines, IRS-CI’s commitment to bringing those who defrauded these programs to justice remains unwavering."