A Raleigh pastor pleaded guilty this week to falsely obtaining thousands of dollars in COVID-19 loans for personal expenses.
According to the United States Department of Justice, 45-year-old Mitchell Summerfield of Raleigh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. Summerfield faces a maximum 30-year prison sentence, a $1 million fine and a five-year supervised release.
Summerfield was also required to pay restitution of an unspecified amount.
Summerfield was a pastor of the Word of God Fellowship Church in Raleigh and also owned several ventures, including Winning Ways, KHS Investments and Vision and Destiny.
According to documents and other information presented in court, Summerfield conspired with other people to submit false and fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster loans (EIDL) for those entities.
Congress created the PPP program in March 2020 to offer forgivable loans for small businesses to use to cover payroll and other qualified expenses during COVID lockdowns.
According to the Justice Department, Summerfield submitted several PPP and EIDL applications on behalf of Winning Ways, KHS Investments and Vision and Destiny, and made various false statements in the applications to encourage the SBA and lenders to approve and disburse the loan amounts.
The Justice Department also said that Summerfield provided fabricated IRS forms, including false income tax returns, resulting in him receiving more than $400,000 in loans, which they say he used for “unlawful” purposes, including paying for personal expenses.
In 2022, a federal task force was created to investigate people who took money meant for struggling businesses to survive the pandemic.
