A Florida man has been indicted on multiple charges for allegedly stealing identification information from his deceased business partner to obtain COVID-19 business loans from the government.
Stephen L. Gurba, 68, has been charged with wire fraud, making a false statement to a financial institution, and aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Officials say that between March and June 2020, Gurba submitted false and fraudulent loan applications on behalf of Big Red Express Trucking, LLC and Zenith Express, LLC.
While filling out the paperwork, Gurba is accused of “assum[ing] the identity of his former business partner who passed away in 2019, listed his former business partner’s name, signature, and other means of identification on the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loan applications certifying under criminal penalty that the applications were true and correct.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office further alleges that Gurba forged the signature of the deceased business partner on loan applications, and that he continued to impersonate the business partner in order to induce the Small Business Administration (SBA) to approve the loans for the trucking companies.
“Additionally, Gurba applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on behalf a Big Red from an SBA authorized financial institution. Gurba certified and signed under criminal penalty that all the PPP loan proceeds would be spent on payroll, mortgages, rent, or other SBA authorized expenses. In reality, Gurba used the majority of the PPP proceeds to enrich himself, family members, payoff unrelated business debts, and other impermissible expenses. As a result of Gurba’s false statement, the financial institution approved and funded a $955,448.75 PPP loan to Big Red,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
If convicted, Gurba faces up to of 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud (2 counts), 30 years in prison on the false statement count, and a 2-year mandatory term of imprisonment on the aggravated identity theft counts (2 counts).
In addition to the charges, Gurba has been notified that the U.S. intends to seize $1.2 million which is believed to have been the profit from the scheme.
This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General and the Small Business Association – Office of Inspector General.