Community College Professor Pleads Guilty to Stealing $150,000 Through a False Covid Loan Application
A Covid loan fraud case in Fayetteville, a city in Cumberland County, North Carolina, advanced on November 2: Pamela Humphrey, 44, a Robeson County woman who works as a professor at Fayetteville Technical Community College, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the Justice Department, Humphrey engaged in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program by submitting a false loan application to steal $150,000. She made false representations in the application for a business located in Robeson County, including the number of employees and the gross revenue of her business. Following approval of the loan application, the SBA disbursed the funds into a personal account controlled by Humphrey.
"While the government stopped doling out billions in easy Covid loans, this office remains vigilant to hold fraudsters accountable," said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle. "Any person who steals taxpayers' dollars can expect us to find them, investigate them, and convict them. Then they will pay it back while in prison."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Jones accepted the guilty plea. Humphrey faces a maximum term of 30 years in prison, a $1,000,000 fine, and a forfeiture money judgment of $150,000, with sentencing set for later this year.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) investigated the case, No. 7:26-CR-49-FL.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于北卡罗来纳州 Lumberton 的 Robeson County 法院。DiscoA340 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Robeson County Courthouse in Lumberton, North Carolina. By DiscoA340, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
