Houston, Texas - A Texas man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly fraudulently obtaining over $3.3 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
According to allegations in the indictment, Scott Jackson Davis, 46, of Harris County, fraudulently received over $3.3 million in PPP funds through three fraudulent PPP loan applications submitted to a financial institution. Davis submitted applications for three businesses which he claimed to represent: Skilled Trade Investments LP (STILP), Skilled Trade Staffing LLC (STS), and Skilled Trade Investments Group LLC (STIGP). Davis claimed that these businesses had numerous employees and significant payroll, when in fact, they had few if any employees and little to no payroll. Davis also claimed on the applications that he had not been convicted of a felony in the previous five years, when in fact he had pleaded guilty to felony wire fraud charges in the Southern District of Texas in April 2017. Davis spent a large portion of the PPP loan funds on private jet travel, real estate, and luxury vehicles.
Davis is charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. The defendant is scheduled for his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina A. Bryan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. If convicted, he faces a maximum total penalty of 30 years in prison for each count of bank fraud, 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, and 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery for the Southern District of Texas; Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware of the SBA-Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG); Acting Assistant Director Jay Greenberg of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Special Agent-in-Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office made the announcement.
The SBA-OIG and FBI’s Houston Field Office are investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Edward E. Emokpae of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Wakefield of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.