DOJ: Louisiana woman tried to get $1M in COVID help by fraud, got $440K, spent money on cars
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A Baton Rouge woman was sentenced to three years in federal prison after defrauding COVID-19 pandemic relief programs.
According to U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Gathe Jr., Linda Gurvin, 56, of Baton Rouge, was sentenced to 36 months after being convicted of wire fraud and unlawful monetary transactions.
According to a U.S. Department of Justice news release, Gurvin admitted to submitting six fraudulent applications seeking more than $1 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). These funds were intended to offer emergency financial help to millions of Americans who were hurting from the economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the DOJ, Gurvin tried to get more than $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds, but she actually got more than $440,000.
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“Gurvin filed several applications in the names of businesses that she had formed prior to the pandemic but which had closed years earlier,” per the DOJ release.
Gurvin reportedly filed two counterfeit applications in the names of Gurvin’s Marine & Air Force Guardian Angels Foundation and Heaven’s Paradise Church of All Nations. She made incorrect representations about the businesses and their operations, according to the DOJ.
“As Gurvin received proceeds from the applications, she made frequent transactions to move the funds among numerous bank accounts that she controlled at the time, before spending the funds on personal expenses and purchases, such as by making large down payments on a 2020 Land Rover Range Rover and a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas,” said the DOJ in a news release.
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Along with Gurvin’s sentencing, the court ordered her to pay $496,673.78 in restitution and forfeit $447,600. After being released, Gurvin is expected to serve three years of supervised release.
The court also ordered her interest in the vehicle forfeited after the United States seized a 2020 Range Rover she had purchased with counterfeit proceeds, according to the DOJ.
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