HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A Huntington woman will spend time in prison after she stole COVID relief money from the government.
Tanisha Wooding, 46, was sentenced to 10 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
According to a U.S. Attorney release, Wooding fraudulently obtained $91,664 in COVID-19 loans for her personal use.
From around July 26, 2020, through June 10, 2021, Wooding knowingly defrauded money from the federal Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.
Wooding received four PPP loans that totaled $81, 664. She falsely claimed on each application that the loan was for her business to cover payroll and other expenses. She listed a carpet cleaning business on one loan, a tax service on another, and an insurance agency on the other two.
In addition, Wooding received a $10,000 EIDL program loan where she falsely claimed the funds were for her insurance business where there were 10 employees.
Wooding admitted that she did not operate any of the four businesses and had no payroll or other business expenses to pay for. The funds from the loans were deposited to Wooding’s personal bank account and were spent on personal purchases.
Wooding has been ordered to pay $101,204.31 in restitution.