Tallahassee woman charged in federal PPP loan fraud scheme

A Tallahassee woman was arrested Thursday for allegedly receiving at least $35,000 in federal business-assistance loans through fraudulent tax documents and applications.

Takira Watson, 25, faces one charge of organized scheme to defraud, which is a second-degree felony. She was booked into the Leon County Detention Facility on $2,500 bond.

The investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began after information on Watson’s application for a pair of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans didn’t match those she had filed with the state for her business, according to an FDLE news release.

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The federal PPP program was created to assist small business owners who were in business prior to 2020 that suffered financial hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Watson's PPP loan application said she opened Good Line Credit Service LLC in 2019, records show the actual registration date was November 2020, just four days before she filed for the first PPP loan, according to a news release.

After Watson received and deposited her first loan into her personal bank account, she applied and received an additional PPP loan based on a fraudulent tax document, FDLE says.

She received a total of $35,833 in federal funds through her fraudulent applications, according to FDLE. Both of Watson’s PPP loans were forgiven by the program prior to the discovery of fraud.

The State Attorney’s Office in the Second Judicial Circuit of Florida will be prosecute the case.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee woman charged in federal COVID-19 relief fraud scheme ppp