TAMPA, FL Acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announces the filing of a criminal complaint charging Julio Lugo and Rosenide Venant, both of Davenport, with conspiracy and making false statements to a financial institution. Lugo has also been charged with an illegal monetary transaction relating to the illegal use of coronavirus relief funds to pay off a note on a luxury car purchased during the conspiracy. If convicted, Lugo faces a maximum penalty of 45 years in federal prison; Venant faces up to 35 years imprisonment.
According to the complaint, beginning in or about March 2020, Lugo and Venant conspired to defraud the Small Business Administration ( SBA ) out of millions of dollars in coronavirus relief funds. Lugo and Venant used their home IP-address to submit at least 70 false and fraudulent loan applications seeking funds from the Paycheck Protection Program ( PPP ) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan ( EIDL ) program. The fraudulent loan applications requested more
Venant could be sentenced to 35 years based on her charges.
Beginning around March 2020, the complaint says, Lugo and Venant conspired to defraud the Small Business Administration out of COVID-19 relief funds. They used their home IP-address to submit at least 70 false and fraudulent loan applications, seeking funds from the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, a news release said.
The fraudulent loan applications sought more than $5.8 million, including for shell companies established by the couple and their relatives, the release said. They also secured relief funds for a defunct tax-preparation company that Lugo previously used to perpetrate a tax fraud in or around 2015, the release said.