Jury Convicts Ocala Man For COVID Relief Fraud

Ocala, Florida - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Henry Troy Wade (47, Ocala) guilty of six counts of wire fraud. Wade faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 2025. A federal grand jury had returned an indictment against Wade on November 22, 2022.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) provided loans to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of funds came from Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs). Between April 5, 2020, and March 24, 2021, Wade applied for 11 EIDLs on behalf of 5 different businesses he claimed to own. Five of these applications were approved and Wade electronically received $524,400 through four loans and two grants.

Wade's EIDL applications, however, contained multiple factual misrepresentations. Wade claimed he owned a restaurant, a farm, a child daycare, and two heating and air conditioning businesses. In actuality, Wade did not have the necessary licenses for any of these types of businesses. Even though he listed multiple employees on the EIDL applications, Wade never had paid any employment taxes nor had he registered the business names with the Internal Revenue Service or the Florida Department of Revenue. Wade also misrepresented his business income on the assorted applications by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk.