A New Orleans man has faced the music for defrauding federal aid programs intended to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dent Hunter, 46, was handed a sentence of five years probation last Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Louisiana. In a case that sheds light on the dark twists some will take amidst crisis, Hunter pled guilty to making false statements and money laundering related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), as per the details released by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson.
The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, sought to render emergency assistance through programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), both administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Court documents revealed that Hunter exploited these emergency measures, fabricating statements to secure a PPP loan for $122,100 on behalf of a business around April 6, 2020. Subsequently, he filched $149,900 from the SBA under the guise of NexLevel ONE Realty.
Not content with merely obtaining these funds improperly, Hunter also conducted money laundering by purchasing two vehicles with the money, allegedly for family members. His actions caught up with him, and Judge Darrel James Papillion has now ordered him to complete 400 hours of community service and pay over $1 million in restitution to the SBA, along with a $200 special assessment fee, as mentioned in the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement…