A New Florida State Representative Elected to Protect the Children’s Rights in Education: A Charged State Representative Swindling Subsequent to Thousands of Dollars in SBA Loans
Federal prosecutors announced charges Wednesday against a Florida state representative who allegedly swindled thousands of dollars in coronavirus relief loans from the Small Business Administration.
The department said that the former Republican legislator lied on loan applications to get more than $150,000 in SBA loans.
There is a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for a conviction of wire fraud, 10 and five years for making false statements, and 10 and two years for money-laundering.
In a statement to the The New York Times, he said he had pleaded not guilty during an initial court appearance Wednesday. I cooperated with investigators as requested, and fully repaid my loan, in order to be transparent with the public.
The Florida Republican who sponsors the “Don’t Say Gay” law has drawn national attention before, as a sponsor of legislation that banned certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. The legislation known as the Parental Rights in Education was signed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and has drawn immediate backlash from the LGBTQ community.
The Covid-19 relief fund has been obtained using fabricated, stolen or fake information. The Justice Department’s Covid-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force has brought several high-profile fraud cases across the country.
A former Florida lawmaker pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements in connection with Covid-19 relief fraud, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
On the Action of Peg O’Connor in a Class Action Concerning the Protection of Her Families and Their Future, a Report to the New Jersey Bar Association
Peg O’Connor, an attorney for Harding, said in a statement that her client “made the best decision available to him under the circumstances to protect his family and his future.”