5 Dayton-area men accused of conspiring to commit COVID-19 relief fraud

The front windows of the Walter H. Rice Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Dayton. THOMAS GNAU / STAFF

Credit: Thomas Gnau

Credit: Thomas Gnau

The front windows of the Walter H. Rice Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Dayton. THOMAS GNAU / STAFF

Five men in the Dayton area are accused conspiring to use fraudulent documents to apply for hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVD-19 relief funds.

Frank Shannon Allen, Howard Darrick Mason, III, Jonathan Nalls, Sirarthur Daniel Allen and Deontae Sanchez Dillard are facing conspiracy to commit theft and conversion of money and things of value from the U.S. charges, according to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Frank Allen is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Mason, Nalls, Sirarthur Allen and Dillard are facing wire fraud charges and Mason, Nalls and Sirarthur Allen are charged with fraud in connection with emergency benefits and theft or conversion of U.S. government property or money charges.

All five were scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Thursday.

The group conspired to commit fraud to receive money using funds from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), which was providing aid to small businesses during the COVID pandemic under the CARES Act, according to federal court records.

As part of the conspiracy, they reportedly prepared and submitted false EIDL applications as well as fraudulent loan applications to other financial institutions.

From around Sept. 4, 2018, to Feb. 21, 2019, the defendants completed a serious of deposits to and checks written from a Huntington Bank account to create a false appearance of ongoing business transactions, according to an indictment.

Over approximately a two-year period, Mason, Nalls, Dillard and Sirarthur Allen reportedly prepared and submitted nearly a dozen fraudulent applications for EIDL funds and for loans at other financial institutions.

Multiple loans were worth more than $100,000. Loans mentioned in the indictment total around $803,000.

Nalls also wrote separate $3,500 checks to Sirarthur Allen and Frank Allen from business accounts, which represented proceeds from one of the fraudulent loans granted, according to federal court records.

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