Kansas City Woman Pleads Guilty to $20,832 Paycheck Protection Program Fraud
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri announced on October 27, 2026, that Dezhon Byrd, 33, of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a scheme to fraudulently obtain a $20,832 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration under the CARES Act.
Prosecutors said Byrd claimed to be the sole proprietor of a retail business and, on April 4, 2021, submitted a PPP application falsely stating the business had 2020 gross receipts of $100,000. Court documents show she did not operate a business with that annual revenue. Based on the fraudulent representations, $20,832 was transferred to her bank account on April 21, 2021.
Byrd faces up to 20 years in federal prison without parole; the actual sentence will be determined by the court after a presentence investigation. The case is part of Operation No Doze, a nationwide PPP fraud enforcement action led by the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, the SBA and the SBA Office of Inspector General, which investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker is prosecuting.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Tim Wilson 摄，CC BY 2.0
