California man pleads guilty for involvement in scheme to defraud SBA out of $15.9 million in loans

A California man pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud" as a result of his involvement in a scheme to defraud the U.S. government out of $15.9 million in COVID-19 pandemic loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Department of Justice said. 

Emanuel Tucker, 45, of Canyon Lake, California, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. 

“The defendant orchestrated a scheme where he worked with purported business owners to submit dozens of loan applications to steal millions of dollars of Covid-19 relief funds,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement. 

“The defendant’s egregious scheme relied on layers of deception to steal taxpayer money to buy himself luxury vehicles, residential properties, and jewelry. The Criminal Division remains dedicated to holding fraudsters who steal from the public fisc to account for their greed,” he added.

Tucker and other co-conspirators, had applied for "several dozen fraudulent PPP and EIDL loan applications on behalf of various companies that he owned and controlled" from April 2020 to April 2022, DOJ said.

The applications "contained material misrepresentations about the companies, including the number of employees, average monthly payroll, gross revenue, cost of goods, and supporting documents," the agency said. 

The fraudulently obtained funds from the Small Business Administration (SBA) were used to buy a Cadillac Escalade, a Bently Continental, and a Ferrari F8 Tributo, "multiple million-dollar houses, and various jewelry, including a $63,000 diamond ring and a $400,000 diamond necklace."

Tucker's formal sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 4.