Detroit, MI–A federal jury in Detroit convicted a local man Thursday for wire fraud and money laundering scheme to obtain more than $4.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Johnny Ho, 41, of Novi, engaged in a conspiracy to submit falsified Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loanloan applications in order to obtain COVID-19 relief funds that he was not entitled to receive. The evidence showed that Ho, who owned Diva Nails and Spa III LLC, located in Northville, submitted inflated payroll information, and otherwise falsified loan application information. Ho personally submitted two fraudulent PPP and EIDL loan applications seeking nearly $350,000 in funds that were intended to help small businesses and their employees impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, Ho and his co-conspirators submitted 29 different fraudulent loans and EIDL loan applications on behalf of 16 businesses totaling over $4.1 million.
Ho was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 27 and faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud counts, and up to 10 years in prison on the money laundering counts.
