Jacksonville Woman Pleads Guilty To Credit Scheme And COVID Relief Fraud Involving The Paycheck Protection Program

Jacksonville, Florida - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Crystal Denean Harvell (37, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving a line of credit scheme and one count of wire fraud involving COVID relief fraud through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Harvell faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count and payment of restitution to the victims she defrauded and to the United States government. Harvell has also agreed to forfeit $20,415, which is traceable to proceeds of the wire fraud offense involving COVID relief fraud. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, Harvell and her co-conspirators fraudulently obtained the Social Security numbers (SSNs) of others. From February 2016 through September 2019, Harvell and others recruited individuals to obtain lines of credit at various businesses, using the SSNs. After fraudulently obtaining the lines of credit, they obtained jewelry and other merchandise. Harvell resold some of the merchandise and lines of credit on social media platforms.

In April 2021, Harvell submitted a PPP loan application to a lender authorized by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to lend funds for approved PPP loan applications. The PPP loan application falsely claimed that Harvell operated her own business. Throughout the loan application Harvell made multiple false statements regarding her purported gross income and expenses associated with operating her business. In support of her PPP loan application, she submitted a false IRS Form 1040 - Profit or Loss From Business. It contained false statements about operating expenses, gross income, and wage expenditures for her purported business. In truth, Harvell's business did not exist. In reliance on the false statements in her loan application, her application was approved, and she received a PPP loan totaling $20,415.

After receiving the PPP loan proceeds in her bank account, Harvell began making withdrawals and spending the funds on personal expenses. In October 2021, Harvell submitted a PPP loan forgiveness application to the SBA that included multiple false representations. In the application, she falsely claimed that she spent more than $18,000 on payroll costs and that the PPP loan proceeds were only used for eligible purposes. In reliance on her false statements the SBA forgave the entire loan, plus accrued interest.

This case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Secret Service - Jacksonville Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein. The asset forfeiture is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Harrington.

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 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 Justice.gov/Coronavirus and Justice.gov/Coronavirus/CombatingFraud.

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 via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.