Texas couple sentenced in Raleigh for roles in national COVID-19 fraud scheme
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- A Texas couple were sentenced to 17 years in prison for a Covid-19 loan scheme.
- The pair helped their clients secure over $15 million in fraudulently obtained loans.
- They must forfeit at least $3.8 million and their Edinburg, Texas, home.
A Texas couple were sentenced in a Raleigh courtroom Thursday to a combined 17 years in federal prison for their roles in a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme.
Edward Sheldon Whitaker and Schunda Coleman pleaded guilty in 2023 to conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Whitaker was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Coleman was sentenced to seven years in prison, a news release states.
The couple, who appeared to have met in Mecklenburg County before moving to Texas, helped “dozens of North Carolina residents” get federal Paycheck Protection Program loans during the COVID-19 pandemic by orchestrating the submission of false information, the release said. The scheme began around April 2020 and ran through at least February 2022, according to court documents.
Whitaker and Coleman were charged federally in October 2022 and pleaded guilty Jan. 19, 2023, court records show. It’s not clear why their sentencing was delayed until Thursday.
In addition to serving time in prison, the couple must also forfeit at least $3.8 million and their home in Edinburg, Texas, court documents show. The six-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom home is currently on the market for $1.075 million, according to the real estate website Realtor.com.
Whitaker and Coleman “created fake supporting documents and false company payroll records,” which they then charged a fee for, the release said. The couple also helped their “clients” fill out loan applications with fraudulent information, with Whitaker teaching them how to make it seem the loans were being used to pay employees’ wages. In actuality, the couple’s clients would use the loans to pay themselves, according to the release.
Their efforts led to more than $15 million in fraudulently obtained loan disbursements nationwide, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said.
More than 30 coconspirators had also been sentenced federally as of Thursday afternoon, according to the release. That includes a Raleigh businessman, Earl Lamont Taylor, who pleaded guilty last year to receiving almost $300,000 in fraudulent loans, The News & Observer previously reported.
The couple apparently also owned property in Tulum off the Mexican coast and in the Dominican Republic, according to court documents. The federal government had originally requested Coleman and Whitaker forfeit those properties, but they aren’t mentioned in sentencing paperwork, so it’s not clear if they’ll be forfeited.
In a memorandum to the court, Coleman’s defense attorney wrote childhood trauma from sexual abuse and a mother addicted to crack cocaine fueled Coleman’s alcohol addiction, impairing her judgment during the time of the scheme.
“She was drinking a full bottle of wine and multiple shots of liquor most days of the week at the time — an unsurprising coping mechanism, given her childhood adversity,” the memorandum states.
Coleman hoped to receive treatment in custody for her addiction and had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, according to the memorandum and a letter she submitted to the court.
The memorandum also claimed the couple received “only a fraction” of the proceeds of the scheme, estimating they earned about 25% of the potential income they generated.
In her letter to the judge, Coleman apologized for her behavior, writing, “I am sorry that my actions harmed the American taxpayers who ultimately fund all government programs. I look forward to making amends and paying as much restitution as I possibly can.”
