Two West Bloomfield residents are facing a $2.6 million federal wire fraud investigation for pandemic-era assistance loans, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said.
Peter Valente and Angela Toma were both charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the case, prosecutors said. Valente was also charged with obstruction of justice.
The charges are in a criminal complaint, the district attorney’s office said. When the investigation is complete, a decision will be made on whether to seek felony indictments and then proceed to trial.
According to the criminal complaint unsealed on March 4, Valente and Toma collaborated to fraudulently obtain $2,609,210 from the Paycheck Protection Program. This program was among the assistance efforts that Congress created in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was aimed at helping small businesses and non-profit organizations get through the immediate economic impact.
The loan applications in question involved inactive businesses and falsified bank records, federal prosecutors said. When federal agents began investigating the case, Valente claimed to be unaware of the crime until afterwards.
The Homeland Security Investigations office in Detroit worked on the investigation.
West Bloomfield residents face federal charges over improper pandemic-era loan applications
