Tommy Hawkins, 61, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 65 months in prison today for his role in orchestrating a conspiracy to assist individuals in fraudulently obtaining at least 38 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling approximately $5 million, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
According to court documents and testimonies, Hawkins, a branch manager at a national financial institution in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, collaborated with others to submit bogus PPP loan applications in 2020 and early 2021.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Hawkins worked with Eric Rivera, Lisa Smith, and others to recruit people for companies with little or no operational activity. Hawkins directed these individuals to open business accounts at his branch and apply for PPP loans under false pretenses.
The government observed that Hawkins aided in the submission of loan applications containing materially misleading information concerning the number of employees and payroll expenses of the businesses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledged that the petitions included fake papers such as falsified tax returns. Based on these misrepresentations, Hawkins’ bank issued 38 PPP loans and disbursed nearly $5 million.
In addition to obtaining bank incentives for opening new company accounts, Hawkins had a separate arrangement with Rivera and Smith. The department reported that Hawkins received $5,000 for each PPP loan he assisted in obtaining.
The United States Attorney’s Office reports that Sargeant made one such fraudulent loan to a corporation in April 2021. After receiving the monies, Sargeant paid another person, James Wessels, to generate bogus payroll checks.
According to the police, a third party cashed these checks and returned the majority of the cash to Sargeant, disguising that the money was not being utilized for payroll.
In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams ordered Hawkins to serve three years on supervised release and pay $5.3 million in restitution.
Lisa Smith admitted to her role in the plan. The US Attorney’s Office is still pending the charges against Rivera and Wessels, and presumes them innocent unless proven guilty.
