PPP Loan Fraud Charges Put Business Records at the Center of an $18 Million Case
The numbers in a business loan application tell a story: how many people work there, what they earn, and how much revenue comes through the door. Federal prosecutors say a Los Angeles woman used false versions of those numbers to seek more than $18 million in pandemic relief.
Marisela Nuno, 53, was indicted November 3 on three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. In its announcement of the charges, the Justice Department alleges she submitted false applications and supporting tax documents for businesses and entities she claimed to own.
The applications sought more than $15.7 million through the Paycheck Protection Program and more than $2.6 million through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Those figures describe the funding requested. The announcement does not specify how much was ultimately disbursed.
What Prosecutors Say Was Behind the Applications
According to DOJ, the applications misrepresented employee counts, average monthly payroll, gross revenue, and eligibility for funding. Prosecutors also allege that Nuno supplied false tax documentation to support them.
The allegations extend beyond getting the applications approved. DOJ says loan proceeds went toward unauthorized uses, including private property purchases, business startup costs and payments to family members.
That creates two separate questions in the case: whether the businesses qualified for the money and whether the proceeds were used as permitted.
Nuno is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. If convicted, the maximum penalties are 20 years for each wire fraud count and 10 years for money laundering.
A Fast Rollout With a Long Enforcement Tail
PPP launched April 3, 2020, during the first Trump administration, as businesses struggled to keep workers employed through pandemic shutdowns. Treasury and the SBA reported that the program reached more than 1.6 million small businesses in its first two weeks.
Speed was central to the effort. It also came with risks.
The Government Accountability Office later found that the SBA’s limited initial controls left PPP and COVID-related EIDL assistance vulnerable to improper payments and fraud. That is a finding about the programs broadly, not a conclusion about what happened in Nuno’s case.
Enforcement began early, too. DOJ announced the first federal PPP fraud charges on May 5, 2020, barely a month after the program opened. The new Los Angeles indictment shows that pandemic lending cases are still reaching court more than six years later.
