SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane woman has been sentenced for fraudulently acquiring over $360,000 in COVID-19 relief funds intended to support small businesses and employees impacted by the pandemic.
Marisa Beck, 41, was sentenced for illegally obtaining $368,829 through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) by creating three fictitious businesses: Cyra Solar LLC, Beck N’ Call Landscape LLC, and Value in People Consulting LLC. These businesses were ineligible for the funds, and Beck used false information to secure the money.
U.S. Attorney Waldref condemned the fraudulent actions for diverting critical relief funds from deserving businesses. “Many small businesses struggled during the COVID-19 shutdowns and were eligible for pandemic relief funds to keep their doors open and ensure their employees could keep their jobs. Fraudulent schemes diverted critical money set aside to help those businesses and instead were used to enrich individuals such as Ms. Beck,” said Waldref. “I’m grateful for the investigators and prosecutors of our COVID Fraud Strike Force. Their teamwork and focus on uncovering fraud strengthens our community and protects small and local businesses.”
Beck received a 12-month prison sentence, followed by three years of supervised release, and must pay $402,020.32 in restitution to cover the total loss caused by the fraud.
