Randon Williams Charged With Pocketing $5.2M in COVID Relief Funds — and Spending It on a Rolls-Royce

When Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program in March 2020, the goal was straightforward: keep American workers employed during the chaos of a once-in-a-generation pandemic. Businesses facing sudden shutdowns could apply for emergency loans backed by the Small Business Administration, and if they used the money for payroll and operating costs, the loans would be forgiven entirely. It was one of the fastest and largest economic relief efforts in U.S. history, and it moved so quickly that it became one of the most exploited ones, too.

Years later, federal prosecutors are still working through cases. This week's case out of Michigan is another example of what that exploitation looked like at its worst.

The Charges

Randon Williams, a West Bloomfield, Michigan resident, is charged with one count each of wire fraud and monetary transactions with property from an unlawful act, charges related to his alleged role in fraudulently obtaining more than $5.2 million in federal pandemic relief funds across multiple businesses he owned and controlled.

How It Allegedly Worked

The scheme was methodical. Williams submitted a PPP borrower application on behalf of The Romero Group, a company he organized in 2017 that had a social media page identifying it as a construction firm, for a $348,145 loan in April 2020. A second application for the same amount followed in March 2021. Both were approved and disbursed into the company's bank account, of which Williams was the sole signer.

He didn't stop there. Williams submitted two additional PPP borrower applications in May 2020 and March 2021 on behalf of Step Ladder Construction, a separate business with no website or social media presence, for loans totaling over $3 million. Both were approved.

To make the applications look legitimate, Williams transferred funds to Paychex, a payroll processing company. But records from Paychex showed that accounts associated with Williams were created in May 2020, almost a month after he received the first loan, and none of the employees listed had been hired before 2020. In other words, the payroll paper trail appears to have been constructed after the fact to justify money that was never intended for employees.

Where Randon Williams Spent the Money

Federal prosecutors allege the funds were used almost entirely for personal enrichment. According to the complaint, the money appears to have supported Williams' personal spending, including the purchase of a Rolls-Royce, a down payment on a home, luxury clothing, dining, furniture, and fitness equipment.

The Step Ladder Construction loans told a similar story. From Paychex, Williams was paid over $1.7 million to himself and his other businesses, and more than $376,000 was paid to three people who appear to be his relatives or close associates. Williams also allegedly used the funds as a down payment on a $2.4 million home. In total, SBA records and records from other approved lenders showed Williams received at least $5,200,611 in federal funds, and the four loans tied to The Romero Group and Step Ladder Construction were not the only ones he received.

Part of a Much Bigger National Pattern

This case doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's one piece of a years-long nationwide enforcement effort that shows no signs of slowing down.

The Department of Justice has made COVID relief fraud a sustained enforcement priority. Just this week, a separate case out of Buffalo, New York, saw 24-year-old Brandon Millender indicted on 10 federal counts, including wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering, for submitting fraudulent PPP applications for non-existent businesses and stealing over $140,000 in loan proceeds. That case also alleged he attempted to obstruct the federal investigation by pressuring a witness to lie to investigators.

The scale of PPP fraud nationwide is staggering. The SBA's Office of Inspector General has estimated that tens of billions of dollars in pandemic relief funds were paid out to potentially fraudulent or ineligible applicants. Federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Secret Service, have dedicated significant resources to working through those cases, and prosecutors have made clear they intend to keep going.

The Department of Justice recently created the National Fraud Enforcement Division, specifically tasked with investigating and prosecuting those who steal or misuse taxpayer dollars, with pandemic fraud among its core priorities. In the Western District of New York alone, the U.S. Attorney's Office recovered more than $68 million in fraud-related cases in 2025.