A former Howell man has admitted to bilking the government out of $3.75 million in funds set up to aid small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kevin Aguilar, 54, pleaded guilty Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in federal court in Trenton to all 15 counts of an indictment: one count of conspiracy to engage in bank fraud, seven counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to engage in wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy involving an unlawful transaction, one count of making an unlawful transaction and one count of aggravated identity theft.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act was signed into law at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, creating the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and the Payroll Protection programs, which handed out loans to distressed small businesses for job retention, rent and other expenses. The short-term, low-interest loans were forgivable if businesses spent a certain percentage on payroll and spent the money on all the targeted expenses within a specific period.
Between April 2020 and May 2021, Aguilar conspired with others to submit seven fraudulent payroll protection applications and three fraudulent disaster loan applications on behalf of four businesses: Showtime Trucking, Showtime TTR XPO, TTS Terminal Corp. and American Consolidated Freightways Corp. He and his co-defendant, Jean E. Rabbit, whom he lived with, received $3.3 million from the payroll protection fund and $450,000 from the disaster loan program, authorities said.
Charges against Rabbitt are pending.
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The money was sent to various sham payroll companies owned and controlled by Aguilar, according to court documents. The funds were then spent on a $100,000 truck, property in Texas and personal expenses, authorities said.
Certain signs of fraud showed up in the loan applications, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Rabbitt claimed to have employed 36 employees in one of the four companies, a number that didn’t change from quarter to quarter, and each were paid the same salary of $23,275. The number of hours each worked was the same from quarter to quarter.
The tax documents used to support the fraudulent loan applications were never filed with the IRS, according to the affidavit.
Aguilar is scheduled to be sentenced March 25. Each count he faces carries a maximum terms of 10 to 30 years in prison and fines of $250,000 to $1 million.
Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Former Howell man pleads guilty to 15 counts in COVID bilking scheme