Nkhenge is going to prison, but it wasn’t a ‘just for me’ type of fraud, because several people were involved
Nkhenge Shropshire, 49, was sentenced to 42 months in prison on December 7, 2022 in Charlotte, NC. Nkhenge submitted fraudulent loan applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain COVID-19 relief loans.
Court documents say Nkhenge conspired with others to defraud the SBA by submitting fraudulent applications for Economic Disaster Relief Loans (EIDL), available under the expanded Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The CARES Act was for business owners that were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between July 2, and September 2, 2020, Nkhenge and her co-conspirators submitted at least 10 fraudulent EIDL applications to the SBA. The applications and supporting documents were for fictitious businesses and contained false information regarding the total number of employees employed by each business and total gross revenues.
Nkhenge and her co-conspirators attempted to obtain at least $331,072 in relief funds. The SBA accepted and paid out at least $45,000 to Nkhenge and her co-conspirators as a result of the scheme.
Nkhenge spent the fraudulent proceeds on personal expenses, including hotel stays, shopping sprees, and cars.
Nkhenge was arrested in March 2022 in Charlotte, NC.
Nkhenge is no stranger to crime because in 2014, Nkhenge was convicted of filing false tax returns and lying on a loan application and was sentenced to 33 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
Nkhenge was on federal supervised release when she participated in the 2020 EIDL fraud scheme. On May 6, 2022, Nkhenge pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy. She is in federal custody and will be transferred to the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
