Date: February 8, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Portland, ME — A Rockport man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to a bank fraud scheme in which he filed nine fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications and received over $1 million in fraud proceeds. According to court records, Mark X. Haley II, filed fraudulent PPP loan applications at two banks for businesses he controlled. Haley listed false employee and payroll information on each application and submitted fraudulent documents to support the false information to the banks. These documents included false federal employment tax returns, fake timesheets and falsified bank records. As a result of the scheme, Haley fraudulently obtained $1,010,581 in PPP funds. He used some of the funds to make a down payment on a sailboat. Haley faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. He also faces up to five years of supervised release. Haley will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations investigated the case. "While many legitimate businesses used PPP loans to keep their businesses afloat, Mark Haley, motivated by personal greed, set his sails on a scheme to obtain lavish luxuries," said Joleen Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of IRS- Criminal Investigation's Boston Field Office. "Today's plea should serve as a stark reminder that criminals, such as Haley, will be held accountable for their misdeeds." Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP): The PPP was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses. The PPP permitted participating third-party lenders to approve and disburse SBA-backed PPP loans to cover payroll, fixed debts, utilities, rent/mortgage, accounts payable and other bills incurred by qualifying businesses during, and resulting from, the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP loans were fully guaranteed by the SBA.
