Meth hidden in dog food helps uncover COVID business loan scam in Georgia, feds say
A drug investigation led to 10 people being charged in what federal prosecutors called a “wide ranging, multi-state” scheme to get money meant for small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
Prosecutors say two people — Alicia Quarterman, 38, and Katrina Lawson, 41 — were ringleaders of the group that ultimately applied for more than $700,000 in funds from two federal programs.
But the plot might have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for an unusual drug investigation.
“A package containing methamphetamine hidden in dog food containers had been mailed to Quarterman’s home,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said this week.
When the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration searched Quarterman’s home in Fayetteville, Georgia, on Aug. 11, officials “discovered a handwritten ledger with the personal and banking information of several individuals” in a cellphone, prosecutors said.
Further investigation “uncovered hundreds of text messages and photos” about attempts to fraudulently obtain money through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program, according to prosecutors.
“I got another money maker for us,” Lawson, a former sheriff’s deputy in Fulton County, Georgia, texted Quarterman in July, according to court records.
As part of the scheme, Lawson allegedly told Quarterman they could charge $2,000 per application for grant money and then pocket another $2,000 when the recipient received the fraudulently obtained $10,000 grant, court records say.
Quarterman brought several people into the plan, officials say, and encouraged them to recruit family members and friends.
All 10 face several charges, including wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, prosecutors said.
Congress approved $2.2 trillion last March to help businesses as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Security (CARES) Act.
Prosecutors say between July and August, Quarterman filled out 58 COVID-19 business loan applications using fraudulent information, seeking $480,000. Lawson is accused of submitting 11 fake PPP loan applications during that same time in an attempt to get $224,000 in funding.
The alleged scheme garnered thousands of dollars for the defendants, Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said in a statement.
Others charged in the indictment include:
- India Middleton, 34, of Accokeek, Maryland
- James McFarland, 56, of Atlanta, Georgia
- Tranesha Quarterman, 33, of Atlanta, Georgia
- Darryl Washington, 66, of Atlanta, Georgia
- Adarin Jones, a/k/a Adrian Jones, 42, of Atlanta, Georgia
- Katie Quarterman, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia
- Nikia Wakefield, 42, of Rockville, Maryland
- Victor Montgomery, 43, of Washington, D.C.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Meth hidden in dog food helps uncover COVID business loan scam in Georgia, feds say."