Date: Nov. 26, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov OKLAHOMA CITY — Madinah Malikah Montgomery of Oklahoma City, has been sentenced to serve 24 months in federal prison for wire fraud and ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution to the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester. On March 19, 2024, Montgomery was charged by Amended Information with wire fraud. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Small Business Administration (SBA) expanded the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program to provide loan assistance to struggling small businesses and other eligible entities. According to the Amended Information, on July 16, 2020, Montgomery submitted an application for an EIDL loan for $150,000 for her business. As part of the application, Montgomery falsely claimed she was the sole owner of a salon with 10 employees, which had gross revenues of $600,000. As a result of her fraudulent application, the SBA approved the loan, and deposited $149,900 to Montgomery’s bank account in Enid, Oklahoma. On April 3, 2024, Montgomery pleaded guilty, and admitted to filing a fraudulent EIDL application and receiving $149,000, some of which she used to pay personal expenses. At the sentencing hearing on Nov. 22, 2024, the United States argued for a sentence of confinement highlighting that over a three-month span, Montgomery fraudulently applied for three separate EIDL loans totaling $385,000, and ultimately received $300,000. U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot sentenced Montgomery to serve 24 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In announcing his sentence, Judge Friot noted the seriousness of Montgomery’s offenses in that she defrauded the United Stated of $300,000 in loans meant for businesses suffering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Judge Friot highlighted the length and serious nature of Montgomery’s criminal history and that the sentences she had received had not deterred her from continued criminal activity. Along with the sentence of confinement, Montgomery was ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution to the United States. Additionally, in a separate case in the Western District of Oklahoma, Montgomery has been charged by a federal grand jury with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute in case number 24-CR-348. She has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. The public is reminded this charge is merely an allegation and that Montgomery is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This case is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), United States Secret Service, the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, and the Oklahoma City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bow Bottomly prosecuted the case. This case is also the result of an investigation by the Western District of Oklahoma Coronavirus Fraud Task Force. The Task Force combines the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on programs created or funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and it is designed to find the best ways to detect, deter, and punish those who take advantage of federal and state programs during the pandemic. These programs include, but are not limited to, fraud involving the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), the Main Street Lending Program, unemployment insurance fraud, and fraud involving pandemic-related supplies. IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
