https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/03/11/roanoke-woman-sentenced-paycheck-protection-fraud-scheme/
ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ/US Attorney’s Office Release) - A Roanoke woman who “orchestrated a wide-ranging conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of a scheme to steal from the Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Program” has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.8 million in restitution.
That’s according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Jaimeka Michelle Austin, 32, pleaded guilty in 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering. In addition to prison time, Austin was ordered to pay full restitution to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and has agreed to a forfeiture money judgment in the sum of $190,390.
Austin was indicted in 2024 along with 23 others as part of a 142-count indictment alleging wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements, and fraud in relation to an emergency benefits program, said the US Attorney’s Office.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the SBA that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses.
Between June 2020 and December 2020, the US Attorney’s Office said, Austin communicated with several people about helping them defraud another pandemic relief program, the Economy Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Austin helped multiple people submit fraudulent applications to the EIDL program and also did so herself, getting $9,000 in EIDL money.
Austin recruited people to apply for PPP loans via social media and word of mouth, knowing that most who would be applying were not eligible to receive such loans because they did not own businesses and were not self-employed at the time – two conditions required for PPP loans, according to investigators.
Austin and her co-conspirators submitted more than 100 fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of dozens of applicants, including for those who did not have pre-existing businesses, according to the US Attorney’s Office. These applications included multiple false statements, including inflated business income and fraudulent IRS Schedule C forms.
Austin also submitted fraudulent PPP loan applications for her own business, Mechelle’s Boutique, according to federal investigators. As a part of these applications, Austin inflated the amount of revenue that Mechelle’s Boutique received. Based on her fraudulent submissions, Austin ultimately received two PPP loans totaling over $52,000.
In total, Austin received, and helped others receive, nearly $2 million in fraudulent PPP loans, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Investigators say Austin used the proceeds of her fraudulent loans, and her commissions from helping others with their own fraudulent loans, for various retail and vacation expenses. She spent significant sums of money at luxury retailers and spent large amounts of money on vacations, including travels to Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico.
In October 2021, Austin used some of the proceeds from her PPP fraud scheme to purchase a new-construction single-family home in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, investigaros say, because Austin was already concerned that the “feds” were watching her and did not want to draw additional attention from the federal government, she sought to conceal the source of the funds she was using to make her $70,000 down payment on the home.
As a result, Austin gave $70,000 of her fraudulent proceeds to a third party; the third party then wired the funds to the closing attorney. Austin and the third party falsely represented that this money was a gift from the third party and that it did not originate from Austin. Austin closed on the Charlotte property two days later and used her fraud proceeds to pay some of the mortgage payments on the property. In May 2022, Austin filed a quitclaim deed granting herself and her mother joint ownership rights over the Charlotte property, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
In April 2023, investigators say, Austin and her mother listed the Charlotte property for sale, and it went under contract for $398,000. Austin and her mother were set to receive just under $95,000 in proceeds from this sale. In May 2023, the United States seized these sale proceeds, and, pursuant to an August 2024 default judgment, this money was forfeited to the United States.
