Federal prosecutors allege that D’Angelo Ferguson helped submit three PPP loan applications using false business income, fake payroll expenses, and fictitious employee information.
His wife, Catherine Spidell-Ferguson, admitted she participated in submitting one of the bogus applications.
Together, prosecutors said the couple fraudulently obtained approximately $1.2 million in pandemic relief funds.
Fake Payroll. Fake Documents. Taxpayer Money.
PPP was meant to keep real businesses open and real workers paid.
This case shows the opposite: federal relief money allegedly obtained through false records and invented payroll claims.
That is exactly the kind of fraud Find Corporate Waste tracks — public money leaving the Treasury based on paperwork that did not match reality.
A Larger Federal Fraud Push
The case also lands inside the DOJ’s broader fraud crackdown under President Trump’s effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefit programs.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has announced a National Fraud Enforcement Division focused on taxpayer-funded fraud schemes.
PPP cases like this show why that matters: the pandemic paper trail is still being reviewed, and false claims WILL lead to federal charges.
What Comes Next
Both defendants face up to 30 years in prison, fines of up to $1 million, and up to five years of supervised release.
Sentencing will occur before U.S. District Judge Laurie J. Michelson after presentence reports are prepared.
FCW Bottom Line
The lesson is simple: the records still matter.
Loan applications, payroll documents, bank records, and forgiveness files can still expose fraud years later.
If a business received federal money through fake payroll, false records, hidden ownership, or bogus eligibility claims, that information may be worth reviewing with counsel.
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