Charlotte barber says ‘Take ur L’s.’ Admits to lying for pandemic relief loans.
A Charlotte barber who fraudulently received pandemic disaster-relief loans — and later asked the government to forgive the debt — hosted a hair and fashion event while out on bond after pleading guilty last Wednesday.
Evan Agustin Perez, 35, defrauded the U.S. Small Business Administration and its lenders when he obtained $720,000 in loans across 17 months, according to Dena J. King, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
The money reportedly went to Augie’s Wish Foundation, EMP Haircare and Enterprises, T.O.P. Salon Suites, Touch of Precision School of Barbering, Touch of Precision Barber Lounge and Roads to Success Early Learning Center.
Perez’ Instagram account promotes those businesses — and another account featuring French Bulldogs — to his more than 14,700 followers.
A text post shared Monday read “U gotta take ur L’s the same way u take ur W’s... Like a MF Boss!” Perez captioned the post “Now back to the business!”
It was unclear if Perez was referencing the fraudulent loans and his guilty plea in the post.
Perez and Edward Whitaker — a 55-year-old Texas man who was found guilty in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme — applied for the loans using false information about Perez’s business income, number of employees, gross revenues and expenses from April 2020 to September 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Months later, they filed forgiveness applications containing false information.
After pleading guilty last Wednesday, Perez hosted the Good Hair Fest, which featured food, artists and vendors on Sunday, according to his social media. Perez’s sentencing date has not yet been determined, according to the news release. The maximum penalty for his wire fraud conspiracy offense is five years in prison.
Whitaker, who in January pleaded guilty to a money laundering scheme that helped people get fraudulent COVID-19 disaster relief funds, faces up to 20 years in federal prison with his wife and co-conspirator, 50-year-old Schunda Coleman.
The couple pleaded guilty to disbursing more than $15 million in loans, according to previous information from the Eastern District Court of North Carolina in January. The duo also used middlemen who were paid to recruit people to submit fraudulent loan applications.
“This couple orchestrated a vast scheme to steal taxpayer money meant to help small businesses weather a global pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley in January. “... We are vigorously pursuing criminals who ripped off public programs for profit while the pandemic crippled local businesses.”
The Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force in May 2021 to combat pandemic-related fraud.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted pandemic-fraud can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866‑720‑5721 or by using the complaint form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
