Oklahoma City According to U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester, Madinah Malikah Montgomery, 32, of Oklahoma City, entered a guilty plea to wire fraud yesterday.
Montgomery was accused of wire fraud by Information on March 19, 2024.
The Information states that Montgomery asserted ownership of a hair and nail establishment in Oklahoma City in July 2020
In order to assist small companies in overcoming the financial difficulties brought on by the pandemic, the Small Business Administration (SBA) temporarily enlarged its Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL) at this period in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Yesterday, Montgomery pleaded guilty to wire fraud and admitted to causing an EIDL application to be submitted to the SBA on behalf of her business.
She admitted the loan application falsely stated her business had 10 employees and $600,000 in gross revenue over the previous 12 months. Montgomery received $150,000 as a result of this fraudulent application.
Montgomery admitted that part of the loan money she received was improperly spent on personal expenses.
In all, Montgomery received $300,000 from the SBA following her fraudulent EIDL applications.
At sentencing, Montgomery faces up to 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.
This case is the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bow Bottomly is prosecuting the case.the situation.
For further details, see the publicly available filings mentioned.
Please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus or https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdok/covid-19-fraud-0 for more details on the Department of Justice’s response to the epidemic.
Calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or using the NCDF Web Complaint Form at can help anybody with information regarding claims of attempted fraud with COVID-19.
