Owner Of Online Luxury Baby Boutique Found Guilty On 31 Counts Of Defrauding COVID-19 Relief Programs

DENVER - The U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado announced that a jury found a former Colorado resident guilty of 31 counts of defrauding the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of nearly half a million dollars.

Shambrica Washington, 39, now a resident of Parker, Texas, was found guilty on 31 counts including wire fraud, brank fraud, money laundering, and false claims offenses.

According to facts established at trial, Washington, obtained loans from the Small Business Administration for two Economic Injury Disaster Loans and from JPMorgan Chase for two PPP loans for a total of $485,749.00 between March of 2020 and July of 2020. During that time Washington obtained the loans under two business names, including Tiny Toes and Tiaras, an online luxury baby boutique. To obtain the fraudulent loans, Washington misrepresented how many people were employed by her businesses and the businesses' wages, revenues, and costs of operation. She used the funds to purchase a car, a custom-built home, pay for elective surgery, and pay credit card debt and other bills with the money. She then applied for millions of dollars in additional loans, grants, and tax credits, including by applying for advance tax credits from the Internal Revenue Service and a $6 million grant through a Small Business Administration program intended for shuttered concert venues.

"The defendant in this case fraudulently took money from American taxpayers for her own personal benefit," said Acting United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Matthew Kirsch. "Our office and the Department of Justice will continue to seek out and prosecute individuals who took advantage of programs meant to help those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic."

"CARES Act funds were meant to provide direct economic assistance to American workers and businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek. "This defendant fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars under this program to buy homes, vehicles, and elective surgery. The FBI will continue to pursue such criminal opportunists and hold them accountable."

"The defendant was found guilty of taking advantage of programs designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of American workers, families, and small businesses," said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Andy Tsui. "IRS-CI has been involved in investigating fraudulent activities tied to CARES Act funds since its inception and our special agents will continue to track down individuals who stole money intended for those whose lives were upended by the pandemic."

United States District Court Judge William J. Martinez presided over the trial. IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI Denver Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Craig Fansler and Taylor Glogiewicz handled the prosecution.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department's response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

On July 11, 2023, the Attorney General selected the District of Colorado's U.S. Attorney's Office to head one of five national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud. The Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and focuses on large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors, as well as those who committed multiple instances of pandemic relief fraud. The Strike Force uses prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Additional information regarding the Strike Force may be found at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-results-nationwide-covid-19-fraud-enforcement-action.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.