Former Arizona newscaster and her husband indicted for fraudulently attempting to obtain COVID-19 relief loans

11/28/2024 / By Arsenio Toledo

A former Arizona television news anchor and her husband have been indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over allegations that they attempted to fraudulently obtain Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) relief funds.

Stephanie Hockridge-Reis, 41, and her husband Nathan Reis, 45, were indicted on Friday, Nov. 22, and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison for each count.

Hockridge-Reis worked as a newscaster for seven years for ABC affiliate Channel 15. She left the media industry in 2018 and two years later, with her husband, co-founded Blueacorn, a lender service provider that will act as a middleman for small businesses and individuals who want to obtain COVID-19 relief funds.

According to the Justice Department’s indictment, Hockridge-Reis and Reis submitted false and fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA).

During the pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, President-elect Donald Trump’s main COVID-19 stimulus package during his first term, empowered the SBA to guarantee aid to keep businesses afloat through PPP loans. (Related: Small Business Administration may have given away $1.3 billion in COVID-19 relief to FOREIGNERS and criminal organizations.)

The Justice Department claims that the PPP loan applications Hockridge-Reis and Reis submitted to the SBA were to receive funds that neither the couple nor their clients were qualified to receive. The two, along with other co-conspirators, are accused of fabricating documents such as payroll records, tax documentation and bank statements, to help them receive PPP loans.

The DOJ also claims that Hockridge-Reis and Reis both knew that the PPP loan applications they submitted to the SBA “contained materially false information,” and that they even charged their clients with illegal and exorbitant fees for their services – fees that were based on a percentage of the funds the clients were liable to receive.

As part of their scheme, the couple hired several employees to work as referral agents. These employees knew about the scheme and were tagged as co-conspirators. They allegedly coached borrowers on how to submit false PPP loan applications.

Blueacorn ignored loan applications from small businesses and focused on bigger payouts

The DOJ’s complaint does not specify how much the couple received in fraudulent PPP loans. However, a 2022 report issued by a congressional panel found that their lending company, Blueacorn, may have taken in nearly $300 million in profits during the pandemic.

The company reported to lawmakers that it collected more than $1 billion in fees for processing PPP applications but also incurred around $700 million in expenses.

The report further alleged that Blueacorn did not prioritize loan applications from small businesses and instead sought to be hired by clients with larger companies and clients who wanted larger PPP loans so they could earn higher commissions.

“I mean … I don’t believe in prioritizing the biggest loans over the smallest … but, there should be some understanding that as we get started … closing these monster loans will get everyone paid,” Hockridge-Reis wrote in a Slack message obtained by congressional investigators.

“Delete them [small business loans],” wrote Hockridge-Reis in another message, referring to loan applications from small businesses that were also far smaller compared to the loan applications they received from larger businesses. “Who f—–g cares. We’re not the first bank to decline borrowers who deserve to be funded.”

Congress also reported that, based on testimony from individuals affiliated with Blueacorn, the company placed greater emphasis on the speed with which they were able to get clients their PPP loans rather than on vetting whether their applications were legitimate and that Hockridge-Reis and Reis knew all of this and supported it.

Hockridge-Reis and Reis reportedly relocated from Arizona to Puerto Rico in 2021 and conducted much of their business remotely.

Watch this video from financial expert John Williams discussing how Internal Revenue Service agents are pursuing small business owners over allegedly fraudulent PPP loans.

This video is from the ThisIsJohnWilliams channel on Brighteon.com.