JERSEY CITY, NJ — A federal jury has convicted a New Jersey woman in a COVID-19 relief fraud case involving a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan submitted on behalf of a co-conspirator in Charleston.
KISHA SUTTON, 44, of Jersey City, was found guilty this week of aiding and abetting bank fraud and aiding and abetting laundering of monetary instruments. Sutton submitted a fraudulent PPP loan application on April 19, 2021, falsely claiming that co-defendant SHAMIESE WRIGHT was a self-employed individual with $75,000 in gross income in 2020.
Evidence presented at trial showed Wright was not self-employed, had never earned that income, and was actually receiving unemployment benefits during 2020. Prosecutors established that Sutton knowingly submitted the fabricated application and attached a falsified IRS Form 1040, Schedule C, to secure the loan…