Date: Jan. 26, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov SAN JOSE — A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging Dory Lindsay Ford with charges related to COVID fraud, including bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley of the Oakland Field Office; and Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) Special Agent in Charge Weston King. According to the indictment, Ford of Monterey, California, operated a catering company called Aqua Terra Culinary, Inc. (Aqua Terra). During the pandemic, Ford applied for and received approximately $4 million in loans and grants from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL). The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was a federal law enacted in or around March 2020 and designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the PPP. Section 5003 of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) established the RRF and appropriated $28.6 billion to the SBA for the purpose of making grants under the RRF. The SBA awarded funding through the RRF to restaurants, bars, and similar businesses serving food and drink. The purpose of this funding was to provide support to eligible entities that suffered revenue losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and related mitigation measures. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) program is an SBA program that provided low-interest financing to small businesses, renters, and homeowners in regions affected by declared disasters. According to the indictment, Ford obtained approximately $4 million in PPP, RRF, and EIDL funds by using false and fraudulent, representations, promises, and omissions and concealed material facts. The indictment alleges that Ford used the COVID-19 loan and grant money to purchase real estate properties in the country of Belize, to invest in the stock market, and to fund a different business venture instead of using the loan money for proper expenses, such as payroll costs, rent or mortgage payments, and supplies. The indictment charges Ford with bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344, as well as three counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and two counts of money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957. An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Ford faces a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum statutory fine of $1 million for bank fraud; a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum statutory fine of $250,000 for each count of wire fraud; and a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum statutory fine of $250,000 for both counts of money laundering. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553. Ford’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 31, 2024, before the Honorable Virginia K. DeMarchi, United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California. Assistant United State Attorney Neal C. Hong is prosecuting the case. The prosecution is a result of an investigation by CI and SBA-OIG. 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. 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.
