Allison Marie Baver, 42, a retired Olympic short track speedskater who was on a team that won a bronze medal in the 2010 Olympic Games, was found guilty of two counts of making false statements to influence a bank, one count of money laundering, and one count of contempt on Thursday.
“Baver’s false statements influenced Meridian Bank to fund her requested $10 million PPP loan,” the press release stated. “After receiving the loan proceeds, she transferred $150,000 to invest in a movie.”
Baver’s loan applications said she had 430 employees and an average payroll each month of up to $4,770,583 — but a statement from the department said she had no employees and no average monthly payroll.
Many Americans have taken advantage of the billions of dollars in COVID-19 aid since the pandemic began in 2020.
The inspector general’s report stated that “at least 17 percent of all COVID-EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors,” referring to the programs.
“Using investigative casework, prior OIG reporting, and advanced data analytics, we identified multiple schemes used by fraudsters to steal from the American taxpayer and exploit programs meant to help those in need,” the report said. “We believe loans identified as potentially fraudulent as part of our review warrant investigation by OIG and its investigative partners.”
Oversight failures by state officials resulted in the misallocation of more than $29 million in federal pandemic relief funds that may now have to be repaid by taxpayers, according to Oklahoma state Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd.
Oklahoma received around $1.1 billion in CARES grants, with the audit finding $12.2 million in questioned costs because state authorities failed to obtain proper documentation to ensure that the payments were made for pandemic-related expenditures.
“Oklahoma has systemic issues that make me very concerned for taxpayers,” Byrd said in a statement, noting that the federal government has the authority to demand repayment of misspent funds.
“If the federal government decides the State must pay back these questioned costs, you and I will end up paying the bill. If that happens, gross mismanagement and lack of compliance and oversight will be blamed.”