Five Rio Grande Valley business owners face 20 years in prison for submitting fraudulent loan applications to get $685,800 from a federal relief program.
Sandra Pope Solis, Lesley Chavez, Rolando Santiago Benitez, Bernardo Gomez Jr., and Edgar De La Garza were arrested in August for falsifying tax and business documents to inflate the amount of financial help they could get from two Small Business Administration (SBA) aid programs. The programs help small businesses with payroll costs, rent, and loss of revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They were taking funds away from other small businesses that may be in need,” said Chris Yates, the McAllen-based TDI Fraud Unit investigator who conducted interviews and analyzed records to help build the case.
The FBI and SBA’s Office of Inspector General led the investigation.
If you suspect insurance fraud, call TDI’s Help Line at 800-252-3439 Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time.
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