Kentucky woman filed fraudulent requests for $70,000 in coronavirus aid, grand jury charges
.jpg "The Department of Justice seal (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)")
An Eastern Kentucky woman filed fraudulent applications for $70,000 in loans for herself or an accomplice from a federal program aimed at helping businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, a federal grand jury has charged.
The grand jury indicted Madison L. Balo, 27, on one charge of conspiracy, one charge of theft of government money and seven counts of wire fraud. The wire fraud charges allege she filed fraudulent applications for coronavirus loans online.
Kyler R. Sullivan, 21, was indicted with Balo on conspiracy and theft charges and one charge of wire fraud.
The indictment said the two lived in or around Jenkins, in Letcher County, at the time of the alleged fraud. State court records show Balo also has lived in neighboring Pike County.
Balo allegedly filed a application in May 2020 that used false information in seeking a $10,000 loan advance for Sullivan.
She also sought $60,000 in loan advances for her home business using false information such as the amount of gross revenue and business costs, the indictment charged.
And in one instance, Balo and Sullivan allegedly took part in stealing a $1,200 coronavirus aid check issued to someone else.
The two were indicted Thursday. The most serious charges have a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The indictment does not say how much money they actually received as a result of the fraudulent applications.
There have been numerous cases around the country of alleged scams related to coronavirus relief funding that Congress approved.
In March, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had publicly charged more than 450 people in with trying to fraudulently obtain more than $569 million related to COVID-19 from the government and individuals.
“We will not allow American citizens or the critical benefits programs that have been created to assist them to be preyed upon by those seeking to take advantage of this national emergency,” Brian M. Boynton, acting assistant attorney general, said at the time.
Kentucky has seen a number of those cases. For instance, a Harlan County man was charged in August with filing fraudulent applications for $370,000 in coronavirus aid, and in another, a Northern Kentucky man was charged with claiming his business had 14 employees in an application for coronavirus assistance, when in fact he had no employees.
In a separate state case, Balo and Sullivan were charged in Pike County in June with trafficking in methamphetamine.
Police responded to a complaint that Sullivan and Balo were in a room at a Pikeville motel despite an earlier trespassing order against them at the place, according to a citation.
When police arrived, Sullivan told them to come in the room because “we have nothing to hide,” but police found items such as baggies and measuring spoons that are used in drug trafficking, as well as what appeared to be meth in a baggie on a set of scales, the citation said.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 11:41 AM.
