Peoria man sentenced for PPP fraud

PEORIA (25News Now) - A Peoria man was sentenced to three years probation for Paycheck Protection Program fraud.

The Department of Justice says in a release Andre K. Johnson, 25, was sentenced Monday for making false statements to the program.

He was also ordered to pay $30,586.05 and serve six months of home detention.

Johnson was indicted in March and pleaded guilty in June to now count of making a false statement.

The DOJ said that he fraudulently obtained PPP funds from May 2020 to September 2021.

He claimed to be self-employed and the sole proprietor of an alleged jewelry and watch wholesale store with a taxable gross income of $100,000 on his loan application, the release said.

He was held responsible for losses to the SBA of $23,410.05 and Harvest Small Business Finance LLC, in the amount of $7,176.00.

In addition to the fraudulent PPP loan, Johnson fraudulently tried to obtain over $26,000 in unemployment benefits from the states of Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and California.

The statutory penalties for making a false statement are up to five years imprisonment, a possible $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.