OXFORD – A Caledonia man was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Monday for fraudulently receiving $800,000 in COVID-19 relief funds for a business that did not exist.
Herman Nash, 63, applied for three separate Economic Injury Disaster Loans during the pandemic. On the applications, he claimed his nonexistent business generated $455,000 in gross revenue and $90,000 in costs of goods sold, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
During the investigation, the IRS seized two vehicles from Nash worth more than $60,000.
“This defendant stole money that was intended to help legitimate businesses survive during the COVID pandemic, and now he is paying the price for that conduct,” U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said in the press release. “We hope that this sentence will provide notice to all of those who defrauded their fellow taxpayers in similar fashion that they will be held to account for their actions.”
In addition to prison time, U.S. Senior District Judge Glen H. Davidson sentenced Nash to five years post-release supervised probation and ordered him to pay $738,000 in restitution.
The Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Dabbs prosecuted.
“The sentencing today is an example of the accountability people who fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief funds can expect,” said Demetrius Hardeman, special agent in charge with the IRS Criminal Investigation Division at the Atlanta field office. “IRS Criminal Investigation special agents have not stopped pursuing those who committed fraud on programs that financially helped Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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