United States of America v. Jonathan Andrew Jones

Indianapolis, Indiana criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with wire fraud.

Between January 2021 and December 2022, Jonathan Andrew Jones, age 31, of Lafayette, Indiana, defrauded the federal government by submitting fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications in his own name and in the names of others.

In one instance, Jones submitted an EIDL application falsely claiming that his business generated thousands of dollars in revenue and had significant payroll costs. In reality, Med School Side Hustle had no customers, no employees, no revenue, and no expenses. To support these claims, Jones submitted fabricated invoices for tutoring services that were never provided to clients who did not exist. As a result, he received $197,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Jones also submitted three PPP loan applications on behalf of himself, claiming he was the sole proprietor of a business with average monthly payroll costs exceeding $8,000. Two of the applications were approved, resulting in $38,148 in disbursed funds.

Additionally, Jones filed fraudulent PPP loan applications using the identities of five friends and family members for a total of approximately $69,629. Within days of the funds being deposited into accounts under those individuals’ names, Jones transferred the money into his own personal bank accounts.

In total, Jones submitted 11 fraudulent EIDL and PPP applications in his name and the names of others, illegally obtaining $326,510.41 in federal relief funds. He used the money for personal expenses, including gambling and purchasing cryptocurrency.

The Defendant elected to plead guilty.