East Texas man ordered to prison, must repay $1,066,432 in COVID relief fraud case

TEXARKANA, Texas (KSLA) — An East Texas man must serve six years and eight months in federal prison after pleading guilty earlier this year in connection with a scheme to get millions in COVID-19 relief funds.

Samuel Morgan Yates, 35, of Maud, also was ordered Tuesday, Sept. 6 to pay $1,066,432 in restitution and forfeiture.

Yates pleaded guilty May 6 to two counts of wire fraud.

In April 2020, Yates submitted two fraudulent applications to two different lenders seeking more than $5 million in forgivable loans. In the first PPP loan, he claimed to have over 400 employees with an average monthly payroll of more than $2 million dollars. In the second application, he claimed to employ over 100 individuals and was able to get a loan of over $500,000.

According to a news release, he submitted a list of names created by a random name generator on the web along with forged tax documents.

“Protecting taxpayer dollars remains one of our highest priorities. Government programs are designed to assist our citizens in their time of need and are done by following established protocols to ensure the money is properly disbursed and accounted for. Yates chose to steal from those most in need of assistance and is now being punished for his actions. Congratulations to the investigative and prosecution team for this outcome.”

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