South Bay woman sentenced in pandemic relief funds fraud case

SANTA CLARA A South Bay woman was sentenced Wednesday to years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than million in pandemic relief funds prosecutors mentioned Related Articles His Panda Express job wasn t cutting it so he arranged to sell pounds of meth in San Jose Exec for San Jose police nonprofit investigated for embezzlement assertions Santa Clara County sheriff sued over onerous concealed-carry requirements Santa Clara police ID stabbing suspect fatally shot by officer No loose ends San Jose triple homicide stemmed from domestic violence bureaucrats say Cassie Will-Darnall of Santa Clara previously pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of wire fraud stemming from a pair of Paycheck Protection Scheme or PPP loans she secured according to the U S Attorney s Office In May Will-Darnell submitted a PPP application as the sole partner of Alternative Fitness Services Inc prosecutors announced She falsely stated the company had employees and a payroll of when it definitely had no employees or payroll Based on the bogus information a lender approved and funded a loan according to prosecutors Will-Darnall filed a second PPP application in July prosecutors announced This time she falsely stated the firm had employees and a payroll of when again it had no employees or payroll A lender in turn approved and funded a roughly million loan according to prosecutors The Paycheck Protection Plan which was administered by the Small Business Administration as part of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Measure Act provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other qualified business expenses Funds were disbursed by SBA-approved third-party lenders In addition to the prison term a judge ordered Will-Darnall to serve three years of supervised release Prosecutors commented she will return to court Oct for a forfeiture hearing and Dec for a restitution hearing Will-Darnall is expected to begin serving the sentence on Jan according to prosecutors