Portage Woman sentenced to prison in COVID-19 fraud scheme

HAMMOND – Kathelia Hopkins, 48 years old, of Portage, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon after pleading guilty to wire fraud announced Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.

Hopkins was sentenced to 21 months in prison and was ordered to pay $424,250 in restitution for her role in submitting dozens of fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) to the Small Business Administration (SBA) on behalf of herself and others.

According to documents in the case, between June and August 2020, Hopkins submitted applications to the SBA claiming that the Covid-19 epidemic was creating an economic hardship on her business and other businesses owned by her family, friends, and others. The investigation revealed that these applications were falsified and the businesses that Hopkins claimed were entitled to funds either did not exist or did not qualify for EIDL loan funds. In total, Hopkins sought to extract over $1,250,000 from the disaster loan program and the SBA disbursed over $420,000 relying on her false claims. Hopkins’ personal profit from the fraud scheme was estimated to be $185,040.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. McGrath.