A former civilian employee and her daughter from the Mount Vernon Police Department in New York faced sentencing for their roles in a fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds scheme.
U.S. District Judge Nelson Roman handed down prison terms to Andrea Ayers, 57, and her daughter Alicia Ayers, 37, on Friday, denying their requests for leniency.
Andrea Ayers, who previously led the city’s CSEA union and had a lengthy tenure as a city employee, received a 3 1/2-year prison sentence.
Her daughter Alicia, who worked as a financial adviser and accountant, was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by six months of home confinement.
The pair was involved in a scheme that defrauded the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) of nearly $1.7 million through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
They submitted numerous fraudulent applications on behalf of acquaintances, falsely asserting that these individuals owned eligible businesses with at least 10 employees.
However, most of these businesses were non-existent.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated,
“These defendants stole from a taxpayer-funded program intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Ayerses were arrested in March 2021 and have plead guilty to various offenses, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
They managed to process more than 165 fraudulent applications, diverting a portion of the funds to themselves as kickbacks, totaling around $500,000.
In their plea bargain, both agreed to forfeit $1.69 million and were mandated to pay an equivalent sum in restitution to the SBA.
They are required to report to prison by August 2.
