A Houston man who was the head of a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud ring and six of his co-conspirators were sentenced for fraudulently obtaining more than $20 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans that the Small Business Administration guaranteed under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Five Houston men have pleaded guilty to their participation in a scheme to fraudulently obtain and launder millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the United States Department of Justice announced Monday.

A federal jury convicted a man on Wednesday for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain and launder millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

A House investigations panel says financial technology firms “abdicated” their responsibility to screen out fraud in applications for a federal program designed to help small businesses stay open and keep workers employed during the pandemic.

Prosperity Bank has agreed to pay $18,673.50 to resolve allegations it improperly processed a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on behalf of an ineligible customer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Four people from the Houston area have been charged for fraudulently obtaining and laundering millions of dollars in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

A Harris County man was arrested Tuesday, accused of fraudulently acquiring more than $3.3 million in funds through the government’s coronavirus pandemic Paycheck Protection Program.

A Texas man was sentenced Thursday to 31 months in prison and three years of supervised release for perpetrating a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $3.3 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

The government's key COVID-19 relief program for small businesses has run out of money.

President Joe Biden has made a Cinco de Mayo taco and enchilada run to highlight his administration’s $28.6 billion program to help eateries that lost business because of the coronavirus pandemic.

WASHINGTON – The Senate passed a bill 92-7 on Thursday to extend the deadline for business owners to apply for forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, giving applicants two more months to apply for federal aid. The bill had already passed the House, so it now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Congress started the loan program last year to help businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Business groups lobbied lawmakers to keep the program going to help ensure businesses that still need help can get it. The Small Business Administration reports that it has approved nearly 7.9 million loans totaling about $704 billion.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved President Joe Biden's pick to oversee the Small Business Administration, an agency that has seen its portfolio expand in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Guzman is a former Obama administration SBA official who currently heads California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate. In that role, she oversaw efforts to help that state’s small businesses survive the pandemic. The Small Business Administration oversees loan programs to help businesses recover from natural disasters, enhances access to capital through loan guarantees and provides training and technical assistance. Guzman said she would work to ensure money gets into the hands of the small businesses hurt the most by the pandemic and the economic crisis through no fault of their own.

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden visited a hardware store in the nation’s capital Tuesday to highlight changes he made to the Paycheck Protection Program to benefit small businesses he says were overlooked by the Trump administration earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. Biden administration officials announced last month that for two weeks starting on Feb. 24, the Small Business Administration would only accept applications for the forgivable loan program from firms with fewer than 20 employees. The exclusivity period for small businesses ends Tuesday, with White House officials reporting that the effort led to a 20% increase in minority businesses and a 14% increase in women businesses receiving loans. The Biden administration also changed eligibility rules for the program. AdTrump administration officials argued the program primarily benefitted smaller businesses because a vast majority of the loans in the first months of the program were for less than $150,000.

The Obama administration closed the nuclear deal without making the freeing of American citizens in Iran a prerequisite. The Trump administration then failed to push for the release of the Namazi father and son as hard as it did other Americans held by Iran, Babak Namazi said. Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, called Iran’s continued detention of American citizens a “humanitarian catastrophe” on a news show this Sunday. “My family expects that President Biden and his administration will not make concessions or deals with Iran” absent a requirement that Iran free the father and son, Babak Namazi told reporters. The 84-year-old found that Iran's Revolutionary Guard had unexpectedly placed a new block on his travel out of Iran, however, Babak Namazi said.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden announced changes Monday to target more federal pandemic assistance to the nation’s smallest businesses and ventures owned by women and people of color. Biden says a lot of these mom and pop businesses “got muscled out of the way” by larger businesses seeking federal money in the early days of the pandemic. "America’s small businesses are hurting, hurting badly and they need help now,” Biden said. Under the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program, the administration is establishing a two-week window, starting Wednesday, in which only businesses with fewer than 20 employees — the overwhelming majority of small businesses — can apply for the forgivable loans. The Biden effort is aimed at correcting disparities in how the program was administered by the Trump administration.

HOUSTON – If you are a small business owner or you know someone who is, tell them about the Texas governor’s webinar Wednesday to give an update on recovery resources through the Small Business Administration like the Paycheck Protection Program. They will answer questions live during the online session today from 1 to 2 p.m.You don’t have to pay to participate, but you do need to register online because there is a maximum capacity of 10,000 attendees. What: Governor’s Small Business Webinar Series: Information on the New Round of PPP FundingWhen: January 27, 2021, 1-2 p.m.Where: Online WebinarAbout the Event:The Governor’s Small Business Team will host a webinar for Texas small business owners to provide an update on recovery resources through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), specifically the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Our panel of experts will include senior executives from the SBA and Small Business Development Centers. They will explain the recent changes and provide up-to-date advice on the new round of PPP funding, loan forgiveness, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and other important resources.

HOUSTON – Michael Caplan, who owns the Cavo Coffee, said he was on the verge of making a very difficult decision earlier this year -- whether to close his business. “There’s no doubt the Paycheck Protection Program saved my business,” Caplan said. Part of the new COVID-19 relief package recently passed by Congress sets aside money for another round of PPP loans, which are expected to roll out in the next few weeks. The program allows business owners to apply for a loan equal to two-and-a-half times their average monthly payroll costs. “I think it’s very important to realize that people who’ve already gotten PPP loans, they’ll be able to get another PPP loan,” said Jerry Tarnopol, a small business loan expert at Community Bank of Texas.

Vaccines, testing, health providers ($69 billion). Adds $22 billion for testing, tracing and mitigation, $9 billion for health care providers, and $4.5 billion for mental health. Reauthorizes, for three years, funding for community health centers and extends a variety of expiring health care policies, including reimbursement rates for various health care providers and procedures under Medicare and MedicaidTax extenders. Business meals would be 100% deductible through 2022 and out-of-pocket health care costs would be deductible after they reach 7.5% of income. Folds in pipeline safety legislation reauthorizing operating grants and safety standards for oil and gas pipelines.

Vaccines, testing, health providers ($69 billion). Adds $22 billion for testing, tracing and mitigation, $9 billion for health care providers, and $4.5 billion for mental health. Reauthorizes, for three years, funding for community health centers and extends a variety of expiring health care policies, including reimbursement rates for various health care providers and procedures under Medicare and MedicaidTax extenders. Business meals would be 100% deductible through 2022 and out-of-pocket health care costs would be deductible after they reach 7.5% of income. Folds in pipeline safety legislation reauthorizing operating grants and safety standards for oil and gas pipelines.

The nexus of the bill's deadlock was in two policies: liability protections for corporations and state and local aid. Democrats said the bill did not do enough to help beleaguered Americans, while Republicans criticized the cost of the bill. Democrats pined for trillions more in spending and some said they are holding out hope that another round of economic stimulus might come in the new year when President-elect Joe Biden takes power. Many Capitol Hill observers are bearish on if another stimulus bill could pass in that circumstance. The stimulus bill is a follow up to the CARES act, which members scrambled to pass in late March.

DIRECT ECONOMIC RELIEF ($286 billion)Unemployment insurance ($120 billion). ___VACCINE, TESTING, HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ($69 billion)Delivers more than $30 billion for procurement of vaccines and treatments, distribution funds for states, and a strategic stockpile. Adds $22 billion for testing, tracing and mitigation, $9 billion for health care providers, and $4.5 billion for mental health. ___SCHOOLS ($82 billion)Delivers $54 billion to public K-12 schools affected by the pandemic and $23 billion for colleges and universities; $4 billion would be awarded to a Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund; nearly $1 billion for Native American schools. ___POSTAL SERVICE ($10 billion)Forgives a $10 billion loan to the Postal Service provided in earlier relief legislation.

Adds $22 billion for testing, tracing and mitigation, $9 billion for health care providers, and $4.5 billion for mental health. Forgives a $10 billion loan to the Postal Service provided in earlier relief legislation. Reauthorizes, for three years, funding for community health centers and extends a variety of expiring health care policies, including reimbursement rates for various health care providers and procedures under Medicare and MedicaidTax extenders. Business meals would be 100% deductible through 2022 and out-of-pocket health care costs would be deductible after they reach 7.5% of income. Folds in pipeline safety legislation reauthorizing operating grants and safety standards for oil and gas pipelines.

HOUSTON – Since reports surfaced that Joel and Victoria Osteen’s Lakewood Church received $4.4 million in Payroll Protection Program loans, the Osteens have responded through Lakewood representatives, saying that it initially did not accept help. A screenshot from the Lakewood Church Facebook announcement that it will reopen for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Believing the shutdown would only last a few weeks, Lakewood did not initially accept PPP assistance during the first half of the program. It is important to note that, since 2004, Pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen have not received salaries from Lakewood Church, and the PPP funds do not provide any personal financial benefit to them, whatsoever. Donald IloffThe exterior of Lakewood Church in Houston is seen in this undated image.

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020 file photo, a man walks past the boarded-up first floor windows of a Huntington Bank branch in Columbus, Ohio. Huntington, with $120 billion in assets, outsizes TCF, which has assets of around $50 billion. The TCF brand will be changed to Huntington, and Detroit's TCF Center will be renamed after Huntington in the coming years. “We wanted to remain Detroit's hometown bank,” said TCF Financial CEO Gary Torgow, in an interview. “We are going to be much better together,” said Huntington Bank CEO Steve Steinour, noting that Huntington, along with new markets, would also get access to TCF's equipment finance business and inventory finance businesses.

The Small Business Administration, which has been in charge of the loan program, disclosed this week that roughly 411,000 loans approved were for Texas businesses. In total, Texas businesses received more than $41 billion in loans, including $13.8 billion to roughly 6,200 recipients who received more than $1 million. The Texas companies supported by the $41 billion in loans reported retaining 4.3 million workers. In Texas, for instance, four companies that received loans worth $10 million reported not having any jobs retained or didn’t say. The SBA also sent more than 27,000 loans worth at least $3.7 billion to businesses in Dallas; sent more than 23,000 loans worth at least $2.7 billion to businesses in Austin; sent more than 20,000 loans worth at least $2.3 billion to businesses in San Antonio; and sent more than 11,000 loans worth at least $1.4 billion to businesses in Fort Worth.

Prosecutors said all six suspects have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. He also faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said all those involved had conspired to submit the fraudulent PPP loan applications by falsifying the number of employees and the average monthly payroll expenses of the applicant businesses. Prosecutors also said they conspired to submit, fraudulent bank records or fake federal tax forms. Prosecutors said several of the PPP loan applications were submitted on behalf of companies the defendants controlled, while other loan applications were submitted on behalf of entities that third-parties allegedly owned.

(Caroline Brehman/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed cautious optimism Tuesday that the U.S. economy is rebounding from the pandemic-induced recession with federal support but that more help from the government is likely needed. “We are in a very different situation than we were the last time,” when Congress enacted nearly $3 trillion in emergency financial aid, Mnuchin said. “At that time, the entire economy was shut down.”Mnuchin said that further federal aid should be focused on the most damaged sectors of the economy, such as restaurants and the travel industry. Pressed to say what types of aid the Trump administration would support in a new bill, Mnuchin said the administration would favor sending another round of $1,200 in individual payments. Mnuchin said the Treasury and the SBA had worked to make the forms simpler to fill out.

HOUSTON – A Houston woman was charged after she fraudulently obtained more than $1.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program, according to Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas. Lola Shalewa Barbara Kasali, 22, was charged with making false statements to a financial institution, wire fraud, bank fraud and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. She received more than $1.9 million in PPP loan funds and after the approval of Lola’s Level application, according to the complaint. Kasali transferred the money in four separate bank accounts after receiving the funds, which were later seized by authorities, according to the charges. She appeared in court before a U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina Bryan in Houston at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

For almost 40 years Wild West night club in the heart of Houston’s Richmond strip was wildly popular for its country music, dancing and bar. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting closures, the crowds at the Wild West just dried up and vanished, leaving the massive dance floor empty and the club on the verge of financial collapse. If you’re one of them and fear you’re about to lose your job, Texas Workforce Solutions has free one-on-one help for you. Search online job boardsOnline job boards like Work in Texas, Indeed or Career Builder can be treasure troves of job listings. If you’re going to attend a viritual job fair, here are some tips to prepare:Register for the online job fair in advanceTest your equipmentHave your resume readyPractice describing your skills, abilities and experienceUse complete sentencesFollow-up with the requested action3.

The money was part of the emergency COVID-19 relief program through the Small Business Administration, a program designed to help struggling small businesses pay their employees and stay afloat during the pandemic. Jerry Tarnopol, an SBA Loan Specialist at Community Bank, said with a program this big, fraud was a possible likelihood. “It saddens me that it happened, but you’ve got to expect it’s going to happen with such a big program. Price now faces federal charges of making false statements to a financial institution, wire fraud, bank fraud, and engaging in prohibited monetary transactions. He’s not the only one Federal Prosecutors have charged with crimes related to the SBA’s PPP program.

HOUSTON – A 29-year-old Houston man is accused of making fraudulent applications for coronavirus relief aid and then spending the money on luxury items, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Lee Price III was arrested and is charged with making false statements to a financial institution, wire fraud, bank fraud and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. Prosecutors said Price was involved in a scheme to submit fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications to federally insured banks and other lenders. “He also allegedly spent thousands at strip clubs and other Houston night clubs,” officials wrote. The PPP allocated $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses.