HAMPTON, Va. — A group of people from the state of Georgia as well as Hampton, Virginia have been convicted of COVID-19 disaster-related loan fraud.
One woman from that group, 44-year-old Nikki Mitchum, pleaded guilty to the charge of "conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution" on Tuesday. She's from Stockbridge, Georgia.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said Mitchum and co-conspirators Malik Mitchum, 26, and Jenna Mitchum, 25, submitted dozens of fraudulent applications for money. They've also pleaded guilty to the scheme.
These loans were supposed to help small businesses that were suffering from pandemic-related hardships. The attorney's office didn't say which businesses belonged to the Mitchums, but said they were "falsely represented" to be struggling.
The spokesperson said Nikki Mitchum is tied to 17 loan applications from other people that led to about $204,000 in kickbacks to her companies. She's also linked to "intended fraud loss" of $4 million, but that doesn't mean the government actually granted her all that money.
Malik and Jenna Mitchum were linked to more than $1.4 million in actual loss to the U.S. government through these applications.
Nikki Mitchum agreed to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution.
She faces up to 30 years in prison and will be sentenced on Dec. 7.
Malik and Jenna Mitchum will be sentenced on July 29.